Compost Science

The process of how compost is made – and how it benefits soil and plants – is fascinating. It’s also useful, as an awareness can help you create faster compost, better soil and healthy, luxurious plants.

If you’re new to the science of composting, we suggest starting with The Science of Compost – How Compost Happens!

Community composting

Can You Compost Dog Poop? One Councillor’s 750-Bag Experiment

Every morning, Gill Thomas collects dog poop bags from the bins outside her local park and takes them home. It didn’t begin this way. In spring 2025, a resident flagged what Thomas describes as a “grot spot” – hundreds of littered dog waste bags dumped along a rural lane beside a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust nature […]

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My garden in the snow.

Frozen Compost? Don’t Panic—Here’s What’s Happening Inside

Even in my relatively mild climate, winter temperatures occasionally dip as low as -7°C (19°F), and the surface of compost can freeze. While it’s not a frequent occurrence here, I know many composters live in much colder regions and wonder what happens when their compost piles freeze over. Fortunately, even when your compost seems to

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Azteca ants on a Cecropia tree.

The Secret Compost Masters of the Tropics: Azteca Ants and Cecropia Trees

In the dense, buzzing rainforests of Central and South America, an extraordinary story of mutual survival is unfolding in the canopies. Meet the Azteca ants and their Cecropia tree hosts—partners in one of nature’s most fascinating composting systems. A partnership built over millenia The Azteca-Cecropia relationship is a relationship that has developed over millions of

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