Compost & Mulch

Compost is provided for these events by the City of South Pasadena's waste hauler - Athens. 

Athens Services provides composting through a state-of-the-art facility, American Organics. Athens process many types of organics materials, including food waste. American Organics can create compost blends suitable for industrial, agricultural, municipal, residential or commercial use. 

Visit athensservices.com/american-organics to learn more about Athens Services - American Organics program. 

Mulch is provided for these events by West Coast Arborist (WCA), contracted by the City for tree maintenance and removal services.

The mulch supplied by WCA is part of the Urban Wood Recycling program. The chipped wood from WCA oeprations is repurposed into high-quality mulch that serves as a natural ground cover that: 

• Retains moisture
• Suppresses weeds 
• Enriches the soil as it breaks down over time

Reintroducing the mulch to its native areas reduces the carbon footprint and allows WCA to give back to the community. 

To learn more about West Coast Arborist, visit westcoastarborists.com.

LA County Public Works offers landscaping workshops for beginners, and more advanced gardeners. Beginner workshops provide hands-on instruction on the basic techniques of composting, worm composting, water-wise gardening, and grasscycling. Advanced workshops teach you organic gardening, landscaping with native drought-tolerant plants, and integrated pest management (environmentally-sound ways to control pests). Back yard composting and worm composting bins are able to be purchased at a discounted rate at any of their workshops.

Sign up today! 

For more information or to sign up, visit smartgardening.com.

You can purchase a variety of compost bins or make your own using materials like an old plastic garbage can, a wooden frame built from 2x4s, a tiered structure, or a plastic tumbler. If you opt for a wooden bin, choose rot-resistant wood such as cedar or redwood. For a DIY plastic bin, drill 1-inch holes around the sides to ensure proper airflow. Ideally, your compost bin should be about 3 feet wide, deep, and tall (3’ x 3’ x 3’) to maintain enough volume for heat to build up and speed up decomposition. Covering the pile with a lid or tarp helps prevent it from becoming waterlogged in the rain and minimizes moisture loss during summer. Having two bins is recommended, as it allows you to turn and manage compost in stages more efficiently.

• Layer Greens and Browns: The best blended compost piles contain brown and green layers in a 3:1 ratio. Brown (carbon) materials include shredded leaves, chopped-up branches, wood chips, and straw. Green (nitrogen) materials include grass, kitchen scraps (no meat, dairy or bread), grass clippings, and plant trimmings.

• Give it Air and Water: To sustain the composting process, your bin needs air and water. A ventilated compost bin provides some air supply. Additionally, when you stir (or aerate) your pile you expose more material for the microbes to process and speed up the breakdown process. Stirring also prevents materials such as grass or leaves from becoming matted and smelly.

• Use a pitchfork to turn the compost about once a week. Sprinkle water over the pile after turning or whenever you add a layer of dry materials. The pile should glisten and the contents should be as damp as a wrung-out sponge. Moisture accelerates the decomposition and creates the ideal humidity for hardworking microbes. Make the top of your compost heap concave in the center to prevent water runoff. If your compost pile becomes too wet (your clue is a rotten smell) you can remedy it by adding more dry materials (including newspaper) and turning it.

• Some suggest using a commercial fertilizer or compost starter, but it’s not necessary. Mother Nature will do her thing naturally in time. One thing to hasten decomposition is to chop course or large materials before adding them to the bin.

For more information, click here or visit smartgardening.com.

Worm composting, also called vermi-composting, is a fun and easy way to make some of the best compost around. Just take your fruit and vegetable scraps and feed them to your red wigglers.  These worms produce the richest castings (aka: worm poop)!

For details on starting up your very own Worm Bin, click here or visit smartgardening.com.