Compost heaps are a great thing to have in a wildlife garden. Not only are they the good way of environmentally dealing with your organic kitchen waste but they are a great for wildlife.

If all your organic kitchen waste goes in to your wheelie bin and then into landfill it is not very good for the environment as the organic matter will be buried along with all the other waste that goes into landfill. Landfills seal rubbish in airtight spaces so air cannot get to the organic waste.  This means it decomposes anaerobically (without oxygen) and creates powerful greenhouse gases, in particular methane which contributes to global warming and climate change.

If you put all your kitchen organic waste and your garden organic waste such as grass and hedge trimmings in a compost heap they will rot down aerobically. 

And after a while the layers at the bottom will be lovely compost which you can put on your garden. It will be full of nutrients and organic matter which will very for your soil and the organic matter will help with water retention.

Why are Compost Heaps great for wildlife?

Compost heaps as they rot down will be a haven for invertebrates such as beetles that will help with the breaking down of the organic matter. These invertebrates are great food for Hedgehogs.

Compost heaps as they rot down will give off heat and will be warm to the touch. This will attract things like slow worms and grass snakes which will like the warmth as a good place to lay their eggs. Hedgehogs will also like the warmth of compost heap and may build a nest. Pregnant female hedgehogs find them a great place to make a nest to raise hoglets.

**SO BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN EMPTYING A COMPOST HEAP! DON'T GO IN STABBING IT WITH A GARDEN FORK! THERE MAY BE HEDGEHOGS, SLOW WORMS OR GRASS SNAKES SLEEPING IN IT!**

Things to note about Compost Heaps

• When making a container for your compost think about getting air to the compost. You need that air to rot down the organic matter aerobically. You can see that we made ours with slats of wood with gaps in between to get the air in.
  
  
• To help with getting air into the heap add some fibrous materials to create air pockets in the compost. Use light cuttings from shrubs but nothing too woody that will take a long time to rot down.
  
  
• Only put organic kitchen waste such as vegetable peelings on your compost heap. Don't put any leftover food such as meat or meat bones as it will attract rats.
  
  
• If you have the room a two bin system is great. You fill one bin and when that is full you start the next bin and leave the first bin to finish rotting down and in the meantime use the new bin. Once you have filled the second bin the first one will be lovely compost that you can empty and put on your garden.