Gardeners urged to put washing up sponges in garden

Gardeners are being urged to put washing up sponges in their garden this year - for a very useful reason. It might sound mad, but the old yellow sponges you use to clean dishes and plates can actually help feed your garden, boosting flowers, helping fruit and vegetables and strengthening hedges, as long as they are natural sponges.

That's because natural sponges are among the unusual items you can add to your compost bin to help create new, rich and nourishing soil for your garden.

When you think of compost, you probably think of adding leaves, dead flowers, potato and banana peel and gone off apples to your compost pile, to slowly turn into nutrient rich mulch that you can then spread on your garden to help it grow and improve the quality of your soil.

But there are actually all sorts of other household items you can add to your compost heap - including washing up sponges, as long as they are non-synthetic.

Richard King, a gardening expert and director at Dino Decking, has offered advice on how to make the most of your waste by revealing unusual things you can compost that your garden will thank you for.

He said: "Compost heaps are great for the soil, feeding plants rich nutrients and are a great way to give back to nature. By composting these often-overlooked materials, you're reducing waste while enriching your soil with diverse nutrients.

"Instead of chucking away old sponges, you can chop them up and add them to your compost. Provided they are made from natural sources such as loofah or cellulose they are great for balancing the nitrogen-rich materials and absorbing water keeping the compost nice and damp for microbial activity.

"Synthetic kitchen sponges, however, should never be composted as they can add toxins to the compost."

Richard added that breads and pastries can also help your compost. He said: "Plain bread, cracker crumbs, and even stale mince pies (minus the foil obviously) can be composted as long as they aren't covered in butter or dairy."

Baked goods are carbon-rich "browns" that balance out the "greens" from fruit and veg scraps, helping to maintain a healthy, diverse compost mix.