Overflow heap

The overflow compost heap which runs across the back of the garden, behind a copper beech screen, to the left in this illustration. An area maybe 20 feet by 8 feet, gently domed and rising to maybe 2 feet.

The overflow was started off with the minced willow tree from next door, maybe a couple of cubic metres of the stuff. It is now used for all the prunings and such which do not rot down very well in the regular compost bin.

That said, the stuff in the overflow bin does rot down eventually and I dug some good compost out of it a couple of years ago. In the meantime I like to think of it as a sort of refuge for all kinds of invertebrates.

Furthermore, in a small way, it is also locking down some carbon, slowing it down on its reach for the sky. Terribly eco.

PS: fresh minced tree has a curious and very distinctive smell.