How to Build a Compost Heap with Pallets - A Step-by-Step Guide

Build a compost heap with pallets and turn your kitchen waste into nutrient-rich compost for your garden. This little guide will give you some ideas on how to get started. Composting is a great way for any gardener who wants to nourish their plants and reduce their carbon footprint. Building a compost heap with pallets is an easy and inexpensive way to create a nutrient-rich compost that can be used in your garden. This is a short step-by-step guide on how we built our compost heap so you can get some inspiration to make your own.

Step 1: Getting your materials

The first step in building a compost heap is to assemble your materials. Pallets are easy to work with as they provide a good basic and ready-made structure and are a nice size for a compost area. You can usually source pallets from lots of places like DIY stores or garden centres. The pallets we’ve used came with our tree deliveries so we’re just repurposing those. Along with the pallets we’re using a couple of left over boards and rails from some fencing work. If you don’t mind things looking a little rustic you can mix and match materials and work with what you’ve got or whatever is easiest for you to get hold of.

Step 2: Preparing the Site

Once you have your pallets, you'll need to prepare the site for your compost heap. Choose a flat area that is accessible and receives some sun. Clear the area of any debris and level the ground. How level and how neat you want your ground is down to your own aesthetic preferences, but you just need to make sure your structure as a solid base to stand on. You may also want to line the bottom of your compost heap with cardboard to help keep weeds and grass from growing up through the compost. I’m saving my cardboard for my no dig veg beds so the compost heap will have to go without for now.

Step 3: Building the Compost Heap

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Next, it's time to start building your compost heap. To build our compost heap we used two pallets for the sides and one pallet to form the middle, creating a "divide" between the two sides.

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To join the pallets together we used three leftover fencing rails. These were cut to size and connected to the the pallets to form the backing. This back will hold the pallets together and also keep the compost in place. We used nails rather than screws.

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Once the basic structure was solid and firm fencing boards were then attached the rails along the back. This looks a bit better than the open rails and it also stops the food waste and compost spilling at the back. The boards were positioned around 1 inch off the ground to prevent them rotting.

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Hopefully you end up with something that looks a little like this.

Step 4: Adding Compost Materials

Once your compost heap is built, it's time to start adding compost materials. The idea of having two sides to your compost heap is to have an "active" side where you add new materials and allow them to decompose, and a ‘finished’ side, which is where the decomposed material has become compost for you to use. This system ensures a continuous supply of rich, nutrient-dense compost for your garden. So at first you’ll just be building up your first ‘active’ side of the compost heap and leaving one side empty. To fill it you can use a combination of kitchen scraps, garden waste, and other organic materials. It's important to have a good balance of greens (nitrogen-rich materials like vegetable scraps and grass clippings) and browns (carbon-rich materials like dry leaves and twigs) to create the best compost.

Step 5: Turning the Compost Heap

To speed up the composting process and ensure even decomposition, it's important to turn your compost heap regularly. Use a pitchfork or garden fork to mix the materials and aerate the compost. This will help the microorganisms in the compost break down the materials more quickly.

Step 6: Using Your Compost

Once your compost has fully decomposed (which can take anywhere from a few months to a year), it's ready to use in your garden. Spread it on your flower beds, vegetable patches, or around the base of trees and shrubs to nourish your plants and improve soil health. While you’re using this newly formed compost you can start adding waste to the empty side of your compost heap.

Building a compost heap with pallets is a simple and effective way to create nutrient-rich compost for your garden but if you have other bits of spare wood to use up and are feeling handy you can always try and fashion something similar with whatever you have to hand.  Re-using materials you already have is a great and cheap way to reduce your carbon footprint. Happy composting : )