Compost is often called a gardener’s black gold, and not in vain, because it can be used to obtain valuable fertilizer. It is installed not only in rural homesteads, but also in cities – for some it is an open type pile, for others it is closed. Although there has been a lot of talk about the proper installation of a compost pile, things do not always go smoothly. This time we will not talk about what can be put in the compost bin, but let’s look at the issue of being neighbors. How far can a compost pile be installed from a neighboring border? And – is it worth damaging neighborly relations because of an unpleasant compost bin?
Reinis and Alise live in a Latvian city. They have their own private house, which is surrounded on both sides by neighbors. As they tell the house “House & Garden”, the relationship with the neighbors is very good, they help, even in the spring they share with the plants left over, but there is one “but”. Neighbors have set up an open compost pile near their yard. “In the summer, this compost pile smells abnormally, its smell takes over our yard. It still doesn’t look visually neat, because this compost pile is homemade, made of boards,” says Alise. As the couple noticed, the neighbors pour everything they can into it – from freshly cut grass to weeds and even uneaten food, including bones. The compost pile is like a palm of their hand, because the couple has not made up shrubs or thujas at the fence. “We keep their compost pile all the time, but this summer, when the air warms up to +30 and more degrees, the smell of the compost pile is unbearable. What to do? relations, “said Reinis. “We still think that maybe the solution is to replace some aromatic plants, but we are concerned that the smell of flowers and the smell of a compost pile can create a bouquet of unpleasant aromas.”
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