Gardener Charles Dowding on Compost

Compost is free to make, and, with guidance, simple to perfect. Why not learn from the best?

We have long-admired the work of the brilliant gardener Charles Dowding, the leading proponent of the revolutionary 'no-dig' gardening method.

Not only does he have a huge following, but his advice is born out of more than 40 years of growing, analysing, comparing, and recommending. Charles has been growing veg since 1981, having gardened in four different locations and grown hundreds of thousands of crops. He is revered in the world of veg growing - Monty Don stated that "Charles has become the guru of no-dig gardening. He's a really good grower, organic, and has fabulous produce".

Compost is at the heart of Charles Dowding's transformative No Dig system of growing. Feeding the soil community with a mulch of compost is the surest way to ensure nutrients are available for your plants to flourish. In trials, Charles has found there is no more nourishing compost than homemade.

What's more, by making your own compost, not only are you recycling your garden and kitchen waste, by feeding your soil you are increasing its carbon-storing capacity and doing your bit to reduce greenhouse gases.

Charles shares his years of experience to demystify and simplify:
- What to compost and how to get the balance right
- Busting all the myths that put people off composting
- Effective composting for every situation from balcony gardening to smallholding
- Achieve the best results with different systems, from hotboxes and wormeries, through single bins, to pallet heaps, and multi-bay set-ups

Compost is a beautifully illustrated, infallible guide to producing compost gold.