Garden composters are increasingly becoming a popular backyard fixture in every home. The increased awareness of organic gardening and maintaining a "green" environment has spiked the need for and thus the production of various composters for you to choose from. This is generally a good thing as it provides a market that offers many options, but may be a bit daunting to the novice. Different types of composters exist for different tasks- it is important to know what exact thing you need to accomplish to get the most out of a composter. If you're interested in buying a garden composter but don't know where to start, here are some things to consider before buying a composter.
What Type Do You Need?
There are two general types of garden composters and their main differences lie on the mechanism by which they create compost from the waste material that you put in. Let's take a closer look at them.
Tumbling Composter.
This type of garden composter, as its name suggests, tumbles material inside it in order to mix it. This typically sits above ground, hanging between two support legs or posts. Its mechanism saves you time and effort as you do not have to turn the material yourself. Tumbling composters can produce compost as quickly as 21 days.
Stationary Composter.
The most conventional type, it resides in one area of your yard. Composters like this come in a wide variety of sizesranging from the very tiny to the very large. These tend to be very well aerated but may yield compost at a slower rate than a tumbling composter.
How much waste do you need to turn into compost?
Asking yourself this question will help you to know how large a composter to get. If you have a pretty large lawn or backyard that tends to generate a lot of fallen leaves and grass or weed clippings, for example, consider obtaining a medium or large sized composter.
Where do you need it to be?
Before buying a garden composter, consider this. Do you have a suitable space in your backyard or garden for it? A compost bin generally needs a level area to function properly. Also, think about how you plan to use it and how accessible it will be. Will you be using it for just leaves and grass clippings? If so, then you can safely tuck it in some area in your backyard. Using it for kitchen waste as well? Then you might want to position it somewhere close to your back door.
What features do you need?
Generally, a good composter must be have good airflow, has the ability to effectively absorb and retain heat, and must be rodent-resistant. These are the basic and most important things you should be looking out for when on the hunt for your very own garden composter. Fancy features will be rendered useless if even one of these three are lacking.
You have some important questions to ask yourself before buying a garden composter, but these are generally easy to identify and answer. Once you know exactly what you need, choosing one is a breeze. Do you know exactly what you need from a garden composter? Here are a few of our recommendations you might like: the Envirocycle Original Composter and the Soilsaver Classic Composter.