Handling Pests in Compost Heaps

Part of the Video Series Compost

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Handle pests in compost heaps or compost bins by having a cat and a raised or enclosed bin that is hard for animals to get to and learn about having the right mixture to avoid them in this free gardening video.

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Handling Pests in Compost Heaps
Hi. This is Yolanda Vanveen on behalf of Expert Village. In this series, we've learned all about how to start a compost heap. But, once you've got your garden started and your compost heap started, what do you do about the deer? What do you do about the rodents? I have some simple rules about that. The deer and the rodents have been here longer than us and I really don't want to interrupt them. So, when I throw anything in my compost heap, I want to make sure it's not something that is going to hurt them because I encourage the deer to come eat my apples and my fruit and my vegetables that I haven't eaten because it is better than throwing it away. They live on my property. The live here and they hang out here and they live under the trees and I love them for that. My only rule is that if you have possums or raccoons, get the "critter getter." They really are going to be a problem, and there's nothing you can do about it. They need to be relocated somewhere where they can find a new home in the mountains or in the woods, not near your garden. When it comes to rodents and mice too, they don't seem to be quite the problem in my garden because of my cat, Dexter. He's really good at getting them. So, if you live somewhere where you can have a cat, that's always a good trick or you can set traps out or create a compost area that is raised and that's in a completely enclosed, plastic bin with holes in it that they can't get through and that way, they won't become a problem. But generally, if your compost heap has enough air and has the correct mixture of brown and green, it's not going to attract any rodents because most of the time, it's just going to be decomposing and you aren't going to have any issues with it. In the next segment, we are going to talk about what to do if your compost pile smells.

About the Expert

Expert: Yolanda Vanveen is a third generation flower grower and sustainable gardener who lives in Kalama, Washington. Read More