What can you not put in a compost pile?

Keep out meat, fish, dairy, bones, and greasy or oily food, because they rot foul, smell, and attract rodents. Leave out pet waste from dogs and cats, which can carry pathogens, and diseased plants or weeds gone to seed, which can survive and spread. Skip glossy or coated paper, treated or painted wood, and anything labeled biodegradable that is really plastic. A home pile also rarely gets hot enough to safely break down these items, so it is simpler to exclude them entirely.

How long does it take to make compost?

Anywhere from about a month to a year, depending on method and effort. A hot, actively managed pile that is well balanced, kept damp, and turned regularly can finish in one to three months. A cold pile you simply add to and ignore takes six months to a year. A compost tumbler falls in between, often producing usable compost in one to two months because it is easy to turn. You will know it is done when it is dark, crumbly, and smells like forest soil, with no recognizable food scraps left.

Do compost bins smell bad?

A properly balanced compost pile smells earthy, not foul. Bad odors are a signal, not a given: a rotten-egg smell means the pile is too wet and airless, and an ammonia smell means too much green material and not enough browns. Fix a smelly pile by mixing in dry browns like leaves, shredded cardboard, or straw and turning it to add air. Kept in balance with enough brown material and the occasional turn, an outdoor compost pile is essentially odorless from a few feet away.

Can you compost in winter?

Yes, though it slows down. Microbial activity drops as temperatures fall, so a pile may go dormant and nearly stop decomposing in freezing weather, then restart in spring. You can keep adding scraps all winter; they simply wait to break down. To keep a pile working longer, make it bigger (mass holds heat), insulate it with a thick layer of leaves or straw, and locate it in a sunny, sheltered spot. An indoor worm bin or a countertop collector that you empty in spring is the alternative in hard-freeze climates.

Do you need a bin to compost, or can you just make a pile?

You do not need a bin. An open pile in a back corner composts perfectly well and costs nothing, which is how most large-scale composting is done. A bin simply makes it neater, keeps it contained, deters some animals, and can speed things up by holding heat and moisture. Enclosed bins and tumblers are worth it in small yards, in areas with rodents, or where appearance matters. Choose based on your space and tolerance for a visible pile, not because compost requires one.

How to Start Composting: A Simple Guide for Beginners

Written & researched by Elena Marsh Gardening & Landscaping Editor

Updated May 2026

Over-the-shoulder view of a person turning dark crumbly compost with a garden fork beside a compost bin, in soft early-morning light

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To start composting, choose a spot or bin, then build a mix of "browns" and "greens" at roughly 2 to 3 parts brown to 1 part green by volume. Browns are dry, carbon-rich materials like dead leaves, cardboard, and straw; greens are moist, nitrogen-rich materials like food scraps and fresh grass clippings. Keep the pile as damp as a wrung-out sponge, turn it occasionally for air, and in a few months to a year it becomes dark, crumbly finished compost. That is the whole system — the rest is just balance and patience.

Composting turns yard and kitchen waste into free soil conditioner and keeps that waste out of the landfill, where the EPA notes food scraps make up a large share of what Americans throw away. Our product rankings draw on aggregated owner reviews and expert consensus rather than first-hand testing; see how we rank.

Step 1: Pick a Composting Method

There is no single right setup — match it to your space, budget, and how tidy it needs to look. All four methods make the same compost; they differ in speed, cost, and containment.

Method	Best for	Speed
Open pile	Large yards, free setup	6 to 12 months
Enclosed bin	Small yards, neat appearance	3 to 6 months
Tumbler	Easy turning, fewer pests	1 to 2 months
Worm bin (vermicompost)	Apartments, indoors, kitchen scraps	2 to 3 months

Beginners with a yard often start with a simple enclosed bin for the balance of neatness and cost. If turning a pile with a fork sounds like too much, a tumbler makes the aeration effortless — compare the two in tumbler vs compost bin, and see the ranked options in best compost bins and best compost tumblers.

Three-quarter view of a person turning dark crumbly compost with a garden fork beside a compost bin, in soft overcast light

Step 2: Choose a Composting Location

Where the pile lives affects how fast it works and how pleasant it is to use. A few placement rules cover most yards.

Partial sun. Some warmth speeds decomposition, but full afternoon sun in hot climates dries the pile out too fast.
Level, well-drained ground. Sitting on bare soil lets worms and microbes move up into the pile and lets excess water drain away.
Convenient but not underfoot. Close enough to the kitchen that you will actually walk out to it, far enough that it is not against the patio.
Some shelter. A spot protected from drying wind and driving rain holds moisture more evenly.

For the full rundown of siting trade-offs, see where to put a compost bin.

Step 3: understand browns and greens

Successful composting comes down to one ratio: carbon to nitrogen, which gardeners track as browns to greens. Browns feed the pile carbon and structure; greens feed it nitrogen and moisture. Too many greens and the pile turns to smelly sludge; too many browns and it barely breaks down.

Browns (carbon)	Greens (nitrogen)
Dry leaves	Fruit and vegetable scraps
Shredded cardboard and paper	Fresh grass clippings
Straw and hay	Coffee grounds and tea
Wood chips and sawdust (untreated)	Plant trimmings and spent flowers
Paper towel and toilet rolls	Crushed eggshells

Aim for roughly 2 to 3 parts brown to 1 part green by volume. The exact ratio is forgiving; use your senses to fine-tune it, as described below. A fuller list is in browns and greens explained.

Wide environmental view of a person turning dark crumbly compost with a garden fork beside a compost bin, in warm late-afternoon light

Step 4: Build and Balance the Compost Pile

Start the pile and keep it in balance from day one, and it will do most of the work itself.

Lay a base of coarse browns — twigs, straw, or shredded cardboard — a few inches deep for airflow and drainage.
Add greens and browns in layers, roughly one part green to two or three parts brown, or just mix them as you go.
Chop or shred large pieces. Smaller bits break down faster because microbes have more surface to work on.
Bury fresh food scraps in the center under a layer of browns to discourage flies and odor.
Keep it moist, not soggy. The pile should feel like a wrung-out sponge. Add water in dry spells; add dry browns if it is dripping.

Know what to keep out, too: no meat, dairy, bones, oily food, pet waste, or diseased plants — the full list is in what not to put in a compost bin.

Step 5: turn it (or do not)

Oxygen is what keeps a compost pile sweet-smelling and fast. Turning the pile with a fork or spinning a tumbler mixes in air and moves the outer material into the hot center.

Hot, fast composting: turn every one to two weeks. A well-managed pile heats up noticeably in the middle and can finish in one to three months.
Cold, slow composting: turn rarely or never, just keep adding material. It still works, taking six months to a year.

If your pile is not heating up despite good balance, it is usually too small, too dry, or short on greens — the causes and fixes are covered in compost not heating up.

Three-quarter view of a person turning dark crumbly compost with a garden fork beside a compost bin, in warm late-afternoon light

Troubleshooting common problems

Almost every compost problem is a moisture or ratio issue, and each has a clear signal and fix.

Problem	Cause	Fix
Rotten-egg smell	Too wet, no air	Add browns, turn to aerate
Ammonia smell	Too many greens	Add browns, reduce green input
Pile not breaking down	Too dry or too many browns	Add water and greens, turn
Attracting animals	Exposed food or wrong items	Bury scraps; use an enclosed bin
Fruit flies	Exposed fresh scraps	Cover with a layer of browns

Concerned about rodents specifically? See do compost bins attract rats for the practical controls.

Step 6: know when it is done and how to use it

Finished compost is dark brown, crumbly, and smells like fresh forest soil. Food scraps and most plant material are no longer recognizable — though a few tough bits like eggshells or twigs may remain and can go back into the next batch.

Use it generously:

Mix into garden beds at an inch or two worked into the top few inches of soil.
Top-dress lawns and around plants as a slow-release feed and mulch.
Blend into potting mixes and raised beds to add fertility and structure.

Compost is a soil conditioner more than a fertilizer, so it improves structure, drainage, and microbial life as much as it feeds plants. How to tell it is truly ready is detailed in how to know when compost is finished.

The bottom line

Composting is far simpler than it looks: contain it, balance browns and greens at about 2 to 3 to 1, keep it as damp as a wrung sponge, add air now and then, and wait. Start with whatever setup fits your space, learn to read the pile by smell and feel, and within a season you will have free, dark, crumbly compost for the garden.

Go deeper on soil and composting at the composting and soil hub, and see how we evaluate the bins and tumblers we recommend in how we rank.

How to Start Composting