sounds odd but tender plants are recommended to be wrapped up/covered with straw.i have done this to my banana plant for winter and got some straw from a friend.she said its no good to her as it isnt compostable.got me thinking is this right does it not rot easily, hence why its used to cover plants in a damp garden????

vaguely Ot, but my mum frost protected everything with old tights and they wouldn't compost atall, at least it was reuse of a knackered resource

yes, it doesn't rot very well as it's so dry. Hay rots well so make sure you use straw.

re: banana plant – make sure air can still cirulate around the growing point as they do get very damp and start rotting if you cover them right up.

From this month's RHS magazine article on cold composting (p809) 'For best results, be sure to mix one part of carbon rich material with one to two parts of nitrogen rich when filling the compost bin. Carbon rich material : old straw (etc.)'.

A whole mass of freshly cut straw would take an age to rot down on its own, but use it for a winter then mix it up with your grass cuttings, veg peelings etc and it'll compost just fine.

A whole mass of freshly cut straw would take an age to rot down on its own, but use it for a winter then mix it up with your grass cuttings, veg peelings etc and it'll compost just fine.

Or pee on it.

the ultimate stw insult, pee on their shoes and then watch them rot 🙂