How To Build Your Own Twig Composter

Several lives ago I decided that I wanted to begin composting. My parents and grandparents had done it for years and I knew it was time I jumped on the haywagon. Now as all good gardeners, landscapers and designers know, any type of addition to the garden, yard or home requires planning and forethought. Assuming the thinker position I compiled a list of considerations and specifications for the composter-to-be. The first consideration was where to put it. I lived in town on a decent sized lot, so space was not an issue. But what I didn’t have in that space was an inconspicuous place to keep a composter. The configuration of the house and garage didn’t provide any neat little nooks or crannies (none that weren’t already filled with perennial gardens anyway) and I didn’t have a shed to tuck it behind. This meant that wherever the composter was situated, it would be in full view from all points in the backyard. Because the yard was surrounded by large trees, and I planned to use the composter to break down all the lovely leaves, I wanted something with a relatively large capacity. The most important specifications, however; it had to look natural and be pleasing to the eye. With my list in hand I began my search. As you know, typical ready-to-use composters aren’t all that pretty to look at and the selection turned out to be less than extensive. Hmmmm, how do you make a black plastic composter look natural and attractive? Undeterred, I began looking at plans for something I could build. I’m pretty handy with a hammer, drill, saw, etc. so the idea of making a composter quickly became my new focus. Unfortunately, the plans that I could find were not awe inspiring. That’s when my thoughts turned to twig furniture. You might think that’s a bit of a stretch and where’s the connection, but if you use your imagination like I did, it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out. If I used twigs it would look natural, I could build it any size I wanted to, and remembering that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, it would look good to me. As luck would have it, I happened to have a friend who owned and operated a tree farm. He had a grove of small to medium cedars that had to be cleared for planting other trees and he told me to help myself. That is exactly what I did!

Here is a picture of the finished product. Actually, it’s a picture of my son, Connor, who just happened to be ‘working’ at the composter one day when I was being shutter happy. At the time of construction I had no idea that someday I would be writing a blog post on ‘How To Build Your Own Twig Composter’. It’s shear coincidence that one of my thousands of Connor pictures happened to include the very composter I’m writing about today!

If you like the appearance of my composter or the idea of creating something similar, please continue reading for a list of materials and instructions on how you can build one of your own.

What You’ll Need

branches for corner posts
branches for side supports
lots of long, pliable twigs for weaving
hand saw
pruners
mallet or hammer
hatchet
string or rope
garden stakes
brute force
beverage
an extra pair of hands
an extra beverage

Site Selection
Decide where you are going to locate your composter. Think carefully because you will be driving your corner posts into the ground - this composter will be a fixed feature of your yard, not a portable unit. Where you build it is where it will remain.

Mark the Building Area
Using some string or rope and the garden stakes, make an outline to represent the size and placement of your composter. The one I made measured approximately 3-1/2 feet by 3-1/2 feet.

Selecting Your Building Materials & Preparing Them for Use
To make your walls straight you will want to choose the straightest pieces you can for corner posts, side supports and weaving pieces. It’s up to you if you want to remove the bark - over time it will start to peel off on its own. I do recommend that you use your pruners to remove all branches and shoots growing from the sides of your building pieces. This will make weaving easier as the branches will be less likely to get caught up on each other.

Corner Posts
Select the thickest pieces to use for the corner posts. (Trunks or branches with a diameter of approximately 2-1/2 to 3 inches.) Cut off all side branches with your pruners. Be careful not to cut your corner posts too short - you will need them to be long enough to give your walls some height and go approximately one foot into the ground. Use a saw for a clean, cross cut at what will be the top of each post. Taper/sharpen the bottom of each post with a hatchet or something similar. Unless you’re creating some very funky design, you’ll only need four corner posts.

Side Supports
Side supports don’t have to be as thick as the corner posts. Choose pieces with a diameter of approximately 1-1/2 inches. As mentioned with the corner posts, don’t cut your side supports too short. You need to accommodate the height of the composter walls and have enough length to push them into the ground to the point where they are steadied for weaving. I used three side supports on each side of my composter for a total of twelve. Remove all branches and shoots to ensure the side supports are relatively smooth.

Weaving Pieces
The weaving pieces are the finest or skinniest pieces you will require. For pliability, something in the range of 1/2 to 1 inch diameter works well. Keep these pieces as long as possible - they become shorter quite quickly as you begin weaving around the side supports. Remove all branches and side shoots so the weaving pieces are smooth. The quantity you require will depend on how thick these pieces are, how high you wish to make your walls, and how closely together you push each row together. I used pieces close to the diameter recommended above and the sides on my composter came to approximately 18 to 20 inches high. This translates to 26 rows multiplied by 4 sides for a total of 104 pieces.

Placing Corner Posts
Take your prepared corner posts to the layout spot you marked out earlier. Starting with the first post, tightly tie a piece of string one foot up from the bottom (the pointy end). With the pointy end down and the clean, cross cut end up, use your mallet or hammer to drive your post into place. When the string reaches the ground you know it’s been driven in to a depth of one foot. Repeat for the remaining three corner posts. These are the anchors of your composter. (Please note that the one foot depth is merely a guideline - if your soil is not overly compacted, you may need to go deeper for more stability.)

Placing Side Supports
Side supports should be placed equal distance apart between the corner posts. Using your hands and your brute force, push each piece into the ground until it is steady and will stand in place on its own.

Begin Weaving

1. Start at one corner, take the skinniest end of a weaving piece and begin feeding it across to the second corner post, weaving it in and out of the side supports as you go. Work it through until there is only about 6 or 7 inches of the thickest end of the weaving piece left to extend beyond the first corner post.
2. Trim the skinny end back so that it extends 6 or 7 inches beyond the second corner post.
3. Repeat these processes as you move from the second corner post to the third corner post, from the third corner post to the fourth corner post, and from the fourth corner post back to the first corner post. (see crude diagram 1)

You have just completed your first full row or weaving! Hooray! That wasn’t too hard, was it? Now do it backwards. No, not facing backwards. What I mean to say is:

4. Follow the same process as above, only reverse your direction and start weaving each piece on the opposite sides of the corner posts. In other words, on the first row each section of weaving started on the outside of the corner post, so the reverse weaving starts on the inside of each corner post.
5. Start at corner post one and go to corner post four, then four to three, three to two, and finally two to one. (see crude diagram 2)

Each of your side supports should now have a weaving piece on both sides - essentially they are surrounded. A very important part of the weaving process is to always lead off with the skinniest end of your weaving piece. Why? Well, if you always lead off with the skinny end, and you always reverse direction after each row, your walls will stay at an even height all the way around. I learned this the hard way and I wanted to spare you the grief. (Trust me, I’m a twig composter scientist.)

After you’ve finished about six rows you can look at the corners and see that an alternating pattern of thick and thin has been established on two sides of each corner post.

6. Keep repeating the steps described above until you’ve achieved the wall height you desire.
7. Once finished weaving, use the hand saw to cut corner posts off about two inches above the height of the walls.

Important Reminders - reverse direction after each row, always weave with the skinny end, and when you reverse direction, start your weave on the opposite side of the corner post. To keep your weave tight, I recommend pushing each row down as far as it will go before beginning your next row.

There are no hard and fast rules about what type of wood to use for this project. I used cedar because it was readily available to me. If willow had been available for weaving, I probably would have gone that route. Feel free to experiment. Let me know how your project turns out, and by all means if you have a question, please ask. I’ll do my best to answer as quickly and effectively as possible.

Good luck with your creations!