So I just went through several rounds of removing and chopping up Birds of Paradise plants in my yard. I also pruned several rose bushes down before transplanting. In any case, I've saved the latest batch of trimmings (most of them are not fresh, are dried out, and are brown). I also don't have a shredder/chipper. I've read around and it seems the consensus from most is that you chop up the yard waste as small as possible and create a pile that's 3'x3' at least. Is this a solid requirement?

At this point I've just raked the yard clippings into a small ditch left by the giant BOP I cut down and wet them pretty thoroughly.

I'm not in a *huge* rush to get it broken down as I'm planning to build out a square foot garden soon and am just gonna buy/pick-up compost from other sources. But I did want to start up a pile since I have the space now. Will what I have be sufficient? Especially as I keep adding to it? I really don't know how I can chop the pieces any smaller - it seems like it would take ages with just a pair of pruners and loppers. And some of the pieces/roots are thick.

If you want a low tech way to chop, you can just use a sharp shovel, or get one of those $10 machetes at a military surplus store. I like to use the machete and an old stump as a chopping block.

I toss all yard waste, including entire plants like sunflower stalks into one big pile, probably 5x5.

For now, it's contained by a wall of concrete blocks, the garden fence and the compost digester. There's too much yard waste to fit in the bin, so I save that space for food waste layered with browns. The digester gives me enough material when I need it, so I'm in no rush for the yard waste to turn to compost.

I've poked into it a couple of times, and stepped on it periodically to make room. The plan is to turn it next spring, and see what it looks like. It's been a good mix of browns and greens of different sizes, including small wood chips and lawn clippings, so I'm optimistic. Just like the digester, any pieces too big will be thrown back in the pile.

Karen

I never would have been able to afford it new, but our neighbors had one, and I noticed that they never used it, so I asked for it a year after we moved in. As a bonus, it was half full of really nice compost from the previous owner.

The county used to sell these at a huge discount, but no more. Sometimes they show up on freecycle. Totally worth the cash if you can afford it!

Just threw some broken-up okra (my 1st year growing - man, those stalks are woody) in there, I'll let you all know if they're gone in the spring ;-) Worse case, I'll have to sift the finished compost and throw them back in the first bin.