Compost Enclosure Construct a fence that can envelope your compost while bringing life and diversity to your property.
A composting wall or fence, on the other hand, is more unconventional and adventurous than a hedge. A composting fence is essentially a solid noncompostable structure, usually two fences
Composting walls break down yard waste while buffering noise and providing privacy.
A composting fence appealed to me as a useful way of repurposing all the tree branches and trimmings that accumulate, even in our small yard. The usual destination for piles of tree prunings in spring is a landfill or, hopefully, municipal composting program. A composting fence provides a full-circle solution, creating a use for what’s usually waste. We built our first composting fence as a privacy wall, providing a sheltered place to sit in full sun, blocking the path of wind and the view from the sidewalk. An overgrown lilac hedge supplied the fill for the fence, as the property was bordered on two sides by a dense, towering lilac hedge. Various gardening sources claimed that the best way to revive an ancient lilac hedge
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What’s a Composting Fence?
Why a Composting Fence?
Laura Lavender (3)
W
hat if your fence was alive? As typical pressed-lumber and chain-link fences certainly aren’t beacons of life, a living fence may seem like a magical notion. What a marvelous way to incorporate yet more life and diversity into the garden! Yet, despite the concept sounding revolutionary, in truth, “living fences” can be found on many residential streets in the form of hedges.
with mesh walls built side by side with a pocket between them made to envelop compost. This compost-containing structure can be casual or a fancy latticed pergola-type structure. You can then fill your “hollow fence” with all kinds of compostables and allow them to decompose. Composting fences are generally filled with “brown” compost materials, such as fall leaves, branches, and perennial clippings, but anything goes! The resulting mass of natural material creates a screen that blocks noise and provides privacy. Additionally, the compost provides living spaces for insects and birds. And as humus is generated by the compost’s microorganisms, you can insert hardy plants into it through the mesh to clothe the composting fence in green.
Laura Lavender (2)
By Laura Lavender