Composting nuts

[Smurfy]

I've got quite a large pile of nut shells from christmas which i want to put on the compost heap but a couple of times i've done this in the past when i've come to use the compost the nut shells have not composted in the slightest. Should i break them up smaller or are they best not to be put on the compost heap at all?

[Geoff]

I thought for a minute you had been tracking brass monkeys.
I think they would be best used as a mulch for shrubs or blueberries.

[Smurfy]

Thanks for that Geoff - i wondered about also using them as a barrier for slugs as i'm sure they wouldn't like to crawl over nut shells.

[Beryl]

That's a far better idea Smurphy than trying to compost. The slugs won't like it one bit.

Beryl.

[Primrose]

I tend to throw my nut shells around the sites where my hostas grow as a slug & snail prevention measure. I've also found they don't compost very well, especially walnut shells which tend to last for ever!

[Johnboy]

Hi Smurfy,
You will find nut casings when digging that have been in the ground for many years. For this reason I burn all my nut waste on the log burner and the ash gets distributed around the plot.
JB.

[garden_serf]

It appears to be the same with corks from wine bottles. The real ones being bark from the Cork tree will break down eventually but it may take forever.
I now burn them (they make great firelighters) or I use them in the bottom of big pots to make the pot lighter to move around (instead of polystyrene).

I have been reading the Forum posts since Monday but have not been able to post any replies. Its been most frustrating. There is something wrong with my user profile in the forum code. It happens almost every week to me and I have to email Jason and get him to fix it before I can post any replies.

[Smurfy]

Sorry about the technical difficulties Garden_Serf

One question though - how many bottles of wine do you drink to get enough for the bottom of pots?! And can i be invited to the next drinking session!!

[garden_serf]

Aaahh... yes, we have a few!
Kev & I enjoy 1 or 2 bottles of red most evenings, the number of corks soon mount up over time. If a bottle of wine is not the absolute cheapest it normally has a real cork.
I first started putting corks in the compost (4 separate composts) a while back in the hope they may break down. I have used the soil with them in and they are all over my garden!!
I occasionally hoik them out of the soil and back into the compost!
So I have got a few...about 40 in the bottom of a big pots works like crocks and makes it a bit lighter to move around.

Open days are in the summer!!!