Building a Compost Heap with Leftover Brick.

If you’re looking for more creative projects to tackle whilst stuck at home in lockdown “limbo” – you’ll love these DIY compost heap ideas. They simply require leftover brick to create, and in less than three months, you’ll have your own homegrown, eco-friendly, waste-reducing, garden soil-enriching organic fertilizer.

If you don’t have enough leftover brick lying around at home – visit your nearest Corobrik centre when the lockdown lifts and choose from a wide variety of face brick in a diverse array of colours, sizes, and finishes.

This is a great time of year to start a compost heap.  With oodles of free time at home, set a sunny morning aside and rope the kids in for some outdoor DIY fun.

Your compost heap can be as basic as the one depicted above – simply clear an area of space in the garden – preferably nowhere too close to the house as the heap can tend to be a little smelly.  Use leftover brick and loosely lay an informal, rectangular wall around the section you want to use as your compost pile.

Start the heap by collecting any organic offcuts from your kitchen such as banana peels, apple cores, vegetable leaves or stems, eggshells, and onion peels. Turn the heap with a garden fork or rake every few weeks, and add moisture by watering occasionally if your garden hasn’t had much rain.

If you’re up for something a little more adventurous – try these slightly more complicated compost heap structures (pictured above) that are built in the shape of an igloo. The enclosed heaps are protected from evaporation, so require less watering, and get a real boost from the heat of the sun. Remember to leave an opening at the top so you can keep adding to the compost heap.

This dual-compartment compost bin is built up against a garden wall using leftover face brick to create three perpendicular walls. This allows you to separate the compost in stages – the left compartment for the beginning phase compost which you will keep adding to, and the right compartment for matured, ready-to-use compost. The easily removable timber fronts with gaps provide good ventilation. The wooden cover on the top provides a good outdoor work surface and traps the heat, preventing the compost from drying out.

Turn the compost in the left compartment every 21 days. The compost should be ready to use in roughly eighty days.

If you’re building your compost heap from scratch and need new bricks, the Corobrik clay face brick range offers the widest variety of colours, shades, shapes, and textures. Explore the range online now.To check out more inspiring DIY and building projects, browse the free brochures available on Corobrik’s downloads page.

Excited about making your own organic fertilizer? Which design would you use to cultivate your own backyard compost? Let us know in the comments section below.