Composting Flooring

by Fiiona Perry
(Macksville)

Hi,

I live in outback Australia.
I have a good compost but want to move it closer to the house so it’s not so far to walk to.

I am wondering what type of flooring to create. As if it’s just earth it might encourage burrowing animals and if we include a base of wood or tiles it might deter animals.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Fiona

Compost Base Idea

Hi Fiona. First let me say I hope you are okay. It looks like your community is flooding. We had flash floods back in 2013 in our town and it's devastating.

First locate your bin so there is some empty space surrounding your compost. Burrowing animals like some cover I believe. They won't be able to sneak in...

For the base of your compost a 10-15 cm or 4-6 inch layer of gravel should slow your burrowers down.

The last layer of deterrent - hardware cloth. A 1/4 inch or about 6mm mesh should do the trick. Bend the metal cloth up over the bottom part of your bin.

Stay safe and best of luck. Cheers, Leslie