There are several ways to recycle your garden waste - via a kerbside collection, taking it to a recycling centre or by using a home compost bin in your garden.

Garden waste that’s collected from the kerbside or recycling centres is transported to municipal composting sites. Here it is converted into pure, concentrated recycled compost, which takes around 3-4 months.  Garden waste on its own is usually composted via open-windrows which consist of long, prism-shaped piles of composting materials which are regularly turned to mix and aerate the ingredients.

Whether you grow flowers, shrubs or vegetables, there’s really no need for most of your garden waste to leave your garden.

• Fallen dead leaves can be made into a nutritious leaf mould – pack them into bin bags, tie it up and perforate the sides, or put them in a bin made from chicken wire. Then leave for a year or two before spreading on your flowers, shrubs and vegetables as mulch, or use older leaf mould for potting compost;
• Grass can be piled up in a heap to rot down – if its in a sunny area you can even plant squash seeds on it, or you can simply add smaller quantities direct to your compost bin; and
• Trimmings from your plants and shrubs, even the cut flowers from your house, can be chopped up for composting.