Compost Holes: A Cheap & Easy Way to Enrich Your Soil
If you can dig a hole, you can in-ground compost.
With in-ground composting, you can enrich the soil in your garden without bins, piles, or pitchforks. You won't even need Red Wigglers (the Cadillac of worms).
What will you need? Something to dig with, a bucket of kitchen waste, and a minimal amount of time.
Of course, compost holes may not be the right choice for all gardeners all of the time. But there are certain situations for which they're very well suited, and certain types of gardeners for whom they're perfect.
Below, you'll find five good reasons to compost in-ground, as well as advice on what to compost. And you'll get directions for two methods of in-ground composting--the one-hole and the two-hole method.





Reasons to Hole Compost
Small Yard? No Problem.
If your yard is too small to accommodate a compost bin or tumbler, you probably don't have a spot in the sun big enough for a compost pile either. But you do have room for compost holes. The only space they take up is about 12 inches--underground.
Lean Wallet? That's Okay.
On a tight budget? Compost holes are a good alternative to expensive bins and elaborate boxes. The equipment required is minimal: a shovel (or a spade if the ground is soft) and kitchen scraps. And you don't have to add costly composting activators either.
No Time? No Worries.
Hole composting (at its most basic) requires only three steps: digging a hole, dumping kitchen scraps into it, and then refilling the hole with soil. If the ground is soft, it takes five minutes or less. What a great way for busy gardeners to enrich their soil!
Planting Trees? In-Ground Compost First.
Before you buy a new tree or shrub, create a compost hole where you intend to plant it. During the summer or fall, fill it with composting materials and soil, and top it with mulch. By spring planting time, the soil will be friable and rich--perfect for feeding the newest member of your landscape.
Raised Beds? You Can Definitely Dig It.
Compost holes are also a super-easy method for building up the soil in raised beds. Because raised-bed soil is usually soft, holes take little time to dig. And you can in-ground compost all year round, so long as the ground isn't frozen.
What's in your compost pail?
All kitchen scraps aren't compostable. For instance, meat, grease, bones, and cheese shouldn't go into your compost bucket. Not only will they attract animals, but they will also take a long, long time decompose.
Instead, fill your compost pail with vegetable and fruit trimmings, such as potato and banana peels, apple cores, and the butt-ends of Romaine lettuce and celery. Egg shells, tea leaves, coffee grounds (with filters), peanut shells, and soured milk are also great additions.
Additional common household wastes that can be added to your bucket include wood ashes, shredded newspapers, and recyclable egg cartons. You can even empty your hairbrush and your pet's brush into the bucket. After all, hair contains nitrogen.
Anything that could harbor disease or that contains ingredients harmful to plants should be excluded, such as pet feces, sick houseplants, coal ash, and color newspaper supplements.
Good (and Bad) Household Waste for Compost Holes
What to Use
| What NOT to Use
|
---|---|
vegetable & fruit rinds
| meat
|
eggshells
| bones
|
tea leaves
| grease
|
coffee grounds (with filters)
| cooking oil
|
sour milk
| cheese
|
pet and human hair
| pet feces/used kitty litter
|
black & white newspaper
| color supplements
|
wood ash
| coal ashes/charcoal briquettes
|
The One-Hole Method
The one-hole method is simple: dig a hole eight to 18-inches deep, dump in one to two quarts of composting material (about one or two inches), and fill the hole back up with soil.
The hole should be at least eight inches deep so that the soil barrier protects the composting material from pests. And it should be no more than 18 inches so that it won’t leach into the water table.
Kitchen scraps take one to six months to decompose, depending upon moisture levels in the soil, the temperature, the soil type, and the type of scraps that you bury. If you want to speed up the process, cut kitchen waste into small bits or process it in a blender before dumping it into the hole.
As soon as you bury your scraps, you can plant seeds and small seedlings on top. For large transplants, like trees, wait until the scraps have decomposed.
Have time to experiment? Check out the three-part blog at "Real Food & Scandalous Gardening Secrets." It offers step-by-step directions for layering a variety of composting materials.
When you want to prepare the soil for a new tree or shrub, sow seeds, or transplant seedlings, try the one-hole method. It’s also great for gardeners with a pail full of kitchen waste on their hands and little time.
The Two-Hole Method
The two-hole method is a little more complicated than the two-hole, but not much.
First, dig a hole between the rows in your garden. For the reasons noted above, it should be approximately one-foot deep. Dump about two quarts of kitchen waste into the hole. Then, fill it with dirt acquired from digging a second hole beside the first one. Fill the second hole with kitchen scraps topped off with dirt, either from the first hole or from a third one.
Stop at two holes, or continue until you run out of composting materials. If you don't have enough kitchen waste, you can dump in store-bought compost instead.
The two-hole method is also a good way to improve the soil in a fallow raised bed.
Questions & Answers
Comments
thanks it's very helpful , I was looking a method to use my kitchen scraps , but I don't have a garden , I plant a few plants in my balcony , so , can I do it in a big bucket ? , should I wet the soil , say every week ? .. If I grind the scraps , and the weather is hot , It will take how long to be ready ? .. and can I add more scraps and mix it and cover again ?.. too much questions , but I'll be very grateful for your help ?
I like this method but the soil depth on my patio is so shallow, I'm not sure it'll be deep enough for the compost hole. . . But I love the idea! Thanks for the tips.
I do this with a post hole digger. After I dig a hole and put the scraps in, I crush the scraps using the digger with the blades closed. Then I push the dirt in and tamp it with the digger and finally cover it over. Usually, I have mulch where I dig, so the mulch gets mixed in too.
I have been doing this. Wish i could avoid hurting the resident worms during the dig.
Wish I'd seen this earlier, but we can start now. Thanks for highlighting this two-for-one composting method here! Pinning to Gardening: Water… board.
Thank you I am going to try this :)
Wow! I love this idea. It's good for me right now because I am just starting my gardening, and I have everything in containers at this point. I'm definitely going to find a bucket that I can start saving scraps in for composting. Thanks. GB
Great idea! It´s a very informative hub. I´ll try this. Thanks for sharing. Voted up and useful.
Good idea, I'll be giving this a try.
I am considering trying this method. Hmmm... Great hub by the way, voted up! Interesting, awesome!
I just started vegetable gardening last year and started composting a bunch this fall. Excited to learn your technique it sounds way less expensive and super easy. I have some composting worms in a bin but they are eating slowly and so I also have a pile that is not working super well ( I think it is not wet enough) will try this technique however thanks for the ideas.
This is a very good method for small spaces. I have used this method prior to planting a silk tree (Albizia julibrissin). It was only 6 inches high when I transplanted into the compost hole. After 2 years it is 6 feet high and flourishing. I would recommend this method to anyone. Thank you for this information. I have voted it useful and up.
i used to use this method. Now all I have time for is to feed my worms some scraps and then dump the rest of my compos table scraps onto the compost pile and cover it will new weed growth in spring or dirt or leaves during other seasons.
I really like the concept of the compost hole--have never been able to have a "heap" area because of my dogs. For whatever reason, the dogs do not dig in the yard, so think this is the thing to try! Also...I didn't know coal ashes could be harmful to plants, so thank you for that info.
A really great tip! Thanks. I am just planning to put some fruit trees in my garden, but before I do - I am certainly going to dig a few holes. Thanks again!
During the summer or fall, fill it with composting materials and soil, and top it with mulch. By spring planting time, the soil will be friable and rich--perfect for feeding the newest member of your landscape....................Nice Artical
When I was growing up we had a compost hole in the backyard, it is one of my earliest garden memories, my father explaining why he had dug it.
Glad to hear from you, katiem2. It really is so easy. Last year, I did it before planting two knock-out rose bushes, and they just thrived. All the best! DF
What a fantastic and easy way to make the most of natural veggie and fruit waste, a compost hole is a great idea that's both effective and affordable. I'm starting one now in my garden. Thanks for the great tip on how to compost using compost holes a cheap and easy way to enrich soil. :) Katie
This is a very good technique. Come fall, I always dig deep into my raised flower beds and add materials to be composted. Come spring, the flower beds are good to go! I'll be following you.
38