How to cut up green waste for composting

Howdy all,

Nicky and I are big into composting (well mostly me), given that it is good in for the environment, but mostly because it is like spreading growing gasoline in our garden! Our compost  makes our veggies grow super big, and healthy, which is delicious!

Here is a bush (formerly a tree) that grows at the edge of our property, which I think is called a liquid amber? I really don't like it, given that it shades our veggie garden, as well as my rose and flower slope. No matter how often we hack it, the plant keeps on coming back which is fine, given that it composts pretty well!

Here is a bit of detail on the leaves:

On very big branches, I like to cut each branch down to make it easier to trim later. I cut them where the sub branch splits off from the main branch:

For very thin branches, I usually cut them down every 3 to 6 inches. This is mostly for speed, since the smaller you cut them up, the faster it breaks down, but if you cut them too small, it takes forever just to do a single branch!

Once the main branch is cut, I usually put them aside so that I can focus on cutting them all at once (since these can hurt my hand). For these branches, that range up to around pencil thickness, I use the hand pruners, and cut them every inch. This is important, because these large sticks take a long time to break down in the heap. If they are cut small, even if they are not completely broken down, you can still use your mostly broken down material in the garden, and they will provide a longer term source of nutrients for you soil.

A loverly photo of the length I like to cut these sticks:

Here is a close up of what these look like in bulk. I have also found that if these sort of sticks are longer, it makes moving the compost more difficult.

Nicky trimming away:

Happy trimming!