What Is Composting In Place and How Do You Do It?

I stumbled onto composting in place completely by accident, and it was such a happy accident. I was no stranger to traditional composting, with heaps of kitchen scraps and garden trimmings carefully managed in a corner of my backyard. But composting in place was new to me, and I was eager to give it a whirl. I just wish I’d found it sooner. It creates rich, fertile soil easily and quickly, with minimal effort from me.

Composting in Place vs. Composting

Composting in place (also known as trench or sheet composting) is an approach where you compost directly in the garden bed or a designated spot in your garden. Unlike traditional composting, which requires a separate compost pile or bin, composting in place is space-efficient and straightforward. It’s perfect for those with limited room or wanting a quick nutrient boost for their soil. I like this method because I can add nutrients to the soil throughout the year, and I don’t have to go and repeatedly turn a huge compost heap. I just dig my trench, add my scraps and cover them up.

Benefits of Composting in Place

Some of the key benefits of composting in place include:

1. Space-saving: Perfect for small gardens or urban spaces.
2. Easy maintenance: Less physical work as there’s no need to turn the pile.
3. Faster nutrient delivery: Directly feeds your soil, reducing wait times for usable compost.
4. Improved soil structure: Enhances water retention, aeration, and beneficial soil organisms.

Select Compostable Materials

When composting in place, it’s crucial to use organic materials that decompose fairly quickly and don’t attract pests. This includes vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, grass clippings, and fall leaves. Avoid meat, dairy, and diseased plants as these can attract unwanted critters and spread disease. And avoid tubers like potato peelings or weeds with seed heads or roots attached, as that’s just asking for trouble.

Prepare the Composting Area

Select a garden bed or spot in your garden where you’d like to enrich the soil. For trench composting, dig a trench about 12 inches deep. For sheet composting, just loosen the top layer of soil because you’ll simply spread your compostables over the area you want to enrich in thin layers. If you want a fully permaculture composting method, choose sheet composting and don’t loosen the top layer of soil, so you don’t disturb the ecosystem beneath.

The goal is to provide a spot for compostable materials to interact directly with your soil. I like the trenching method, so I tend to dig a trench between six and 12 inches between rows of plants. Or, in winter or early spring, I trench compost where I know I’ll be planting on top of the composted materials later in the year.

Layer and Build the Compost

Like a lasagna, layer your compostable materials, alternating green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) materials. Aim for a 2:1 ratio of brown to green materials. Green includes vegetable scraps, fresh grass clippings and coffee grounds. Brown includes fall leaves, straw, clean cardboard and shredded paper. I keep all the unbleached brown paper that comes in Amazon shipping boxes for this purpose. For trenching, I like to fill a part of the trench, then cover it back up with soil, then a day or two later, with my next load of kitchen scraps, I’ll fill in the next few inches of the trench. Rinse and repeat.

Maintain the Compost

Water your composting area periodically to keep it as damp as a wrung-out sponge. There’s no need to turn the pile, which is a major bonus for those with busy lives or back issues! I just water the area at the same time as I water the plants around it, so it doesn’t take any more time or effort.

Timeframe for Composting in Place

The timeframe for composting in place can range from a month to a year, depending on your climate and the things you compost. The composting process is faster in warmer temperatures and slower in cool or dry conditions. Making sure you shred your veggie scraps, leaves, and paper is also a great way to speed up the composting process. I also find that trenching is faster than sheet composting, presumably because the compostable materials are buried beneath the soil, so have a head start.

Utilize Finished Compost

Once the materials have decomposed, you’ll have a rich, dark layer of compost ready to nourish your plants. You can plant directly into it, or spread it around existing plants as a nutritious mulch. If you choose the sheet method, you’ll end up with an area you can plant right into or spread around. If, like me, you prefer the trench method, you’ll have a rich, deep trench of compost beneath the surface of the soil. I trench compost across my garden all through the growing season, between rows of plants that might need a nutrient boost. It also means that I have a really fertile row ready to plant right into.

Tips for Successful Composting in Place

1. Chop materials into small pieces to speed up decomposition.
2. Avoid overloading the area with too much kitchen waste to prevent odor or pests.
3. Layer materials evenly for a well-balanced compost.
4. Consider a cover crop, like clover, to further enrich the soil and keep the area neat.
5. Avoid cooked foods, dairy or meat.

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