I'm your local home composting adviser and I'll be promoting home composting at events in your area. Composting is easy when you know how and the compost you make can be used in many different ways around your garden. Once you start using your own home-made compost, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it!

I'll be on hand at events in your area to give you advice and support and to help you get the most from your composting. Come and say hello when you see me and have a look at the bins themselves. If you've been composting for a while, I'd love to hear from you too.

If you would like me to attend an event in your area, then please let me know. If you are a member of a club, organisation or group that would like to hear more about home composting, why not invite me along for a talk?

You can email me or phone the Help Line 0845 600 0323

Using compost as a mulch helps to prevent soil drying out in summer. Your home compost mulch also provides beneficial bacteria and acts like a slow-release fertiliser by leaching nutrients into the soil making them available to plants in soluble form.

Mulching with home compost works best around trees and shrubs. Simply spread a layer of around two inches over the top of the soil. If you mulch around young, soft-stemmed plants, remember to leave a gap around the neck of the plant to avoid scorching it.

When winter comes, you can either dig the home compost into  the soil to improve the texture of the soil or you can leave it on top to help protect against frost.