15 Creative Homemade Compost Bins You Can DIY On A Budget

Looking for homemade compost bins and compost bin plans? Good thing I myself have been cutting on my garden expenses with DIY compost bins. Help yourself to these low-cost composting bins where some of them can even be made practically for free!

Ingenious DIY Compost Bins For Practical Gardeners

I got myself and my family into gardening to save on food expense. So it's ironic that while we do save on free vegetables and fruits, gardening takes a huge cut in our budget on these costly fancy garden tools and implements. Now the cheapskate in me went into recycling and it's amazing to find designs for inexpensive homemade compost bins. Now I don't have to buy compost at the garden supply store nor spend much in composters!

15 Homemade Compost Bins | To DIY On a Budget

1. DIY Compost Tumbler

To aid decomposition, your compost materials has to be aerated, mixed, and loosened. That can be difficult in a compost pile. So if you want to harvest compost fast and easy, a DIY compost tumbler will do the work for you. A plastic drum can be ideal being lightweight yet durable. Learn how to make a compost bin in this easy DIY compost tumbler without the huge expense!

2. Wattle Compost Bin

A compost bin or a compost pile can be an eyesore in a garden landscape. So is a huge container which got ‘dumpster' written all over it even if it contains what's hailed as black gold or compost. I just love this wattle compost bin idea which is basically weaving thin long branches from say, willow. Fortunately, the materials are organic and will blend well in the garden.

3. Wire Mesh Compost Tumbler

What's great with wire mesh is it can be easily worked out or fashioned into something like a compost tumbler. Take this creative compost bin plan, for example, using old bike wheels as a frame on which to wrap the mesh wire around. Your compost materials can be easily mixed and loosened this way. However, it would be ideal to seal it up a bit more to keep your finished organic compost from spilling all over.

4. Used Tires Compost Bin

With millions of cars in the U.S. alone, car tires are easily some of the top contributors in the dump. Your garden sure could use some tire recycling and some of these ideas for old tires are definitely awesome in your garden and home. A DIY compost bin from tires can even be ideal for worm composting being synthetic which will keep them in and warm.

5. Cardboard Box Compost Bin

Although cardboard boxes are not exactly the best compost bin material there is, it has its pros in composting. One is that it's biodegradable and mostly organic which will eventually decompose along with the rest of the compost materials. Second, it's inexpensive and can even be sourced for free. This is not ideal, though, when worm composting indoors as worms may easily make their way out of this soft material. Find out how to make compost using cardboard boxes as a compost bin here.

6. Concrete Blocks Compost Bin

What's ideal with concrete blocks is their durability. They can last longer out in the open than most of the materials for making compost bins. You can easily assemble them also into a compost bin just like building blocks. This is especially ideal if you're just taking your time and let the natural composting process take its time too.

7. Plastic Container Composter

When vermicomposting, I think the best material would be plastic containers which can be bought at a low price. As a matter of fact, plastic bins are the most popular for worm composting. It is easy to clean and can be reused. Just add more drainage holes to keep the soil from getting soggy.

 8. Corrugated Iron Composter

If you are worm composting and want more from it, the plastic container won't be sufficient. Good thing, the corrugated iron doesn't cost much and can be durable. As for the wood frame, wood pallets are also available at a low cost or even for free. Take care, though, that the pallets are safe to use and won't harm the worms.

9. Wood Pallets Compost Bin

As previously stated, you can get wood pallets at a low cost and even for free. With these practical resources, the garden will not run out of things to find uses for wood pallets including a DIY compost bin. With a simple box type design, even a woodworking beginner can do it as easily as one, two, three.

10. Wine Barrel Compost Tumbler

If you have access to wine barrels for a low price, then great for you and for your garden. There are a lot of things you can do with wine barrels in the garden. In fact, wine barrels are stylish in the garden especially the authentic ones. Using wine barrels can be ideal for indoor composting, or at least under the shelter of a roof to keep it longer.

11. Metal Drum Compost Tumbler

Metal drums are also some of the great materials you can reuse and repurpose for use in the garden. But they are not much ideal for worm composting since they rust and releases heavy metals to the compost. However, they can be great as a compost tumbler since they are already round. And with the additional car tires fitted, they can be easily rolled to mix the compost materials.

12. Composting Trash Can

Old trash bins, unfortunately, end up in the dump as well and we all know plastic takes a long long time to decompose. If it has but a few cracks and hole, then all the better to reuse it as a composter since you'll be drilling holes in it anyway for aeration and drainage. Whether the old trash bin is made of plastic or metal, they will be ideal as homemade compost bins.

13. Log Compost Bin

If you've played stack sticks, the idea for this homemade compost bin is practically the same. You just stack unused logs in the garden over the other in this frame, secure it, and viola! homemade compost bin in no time. This will be great for piling up fallen leaves and weeds in the garden for use in winter composting.

14. Willow Compost Bin

Materials for this DIY compost bin can be readily available in your environment. Branch cuttings from trees or bushes can be easily woven into this compost bin plan. Learning this skill could be essential around the garden. Besides composting bins, you can make fences, raised beds and garden edgings with this stuff. It's organic and will eventually be composted also.

15. Wire Screen Compost Bin

What I love about this ingenious raised bed garden and composter is how wire screens were used to make this DIY compost bin. I can grow beans and cucumber in them and the vegetables will like it with the nutrients they will get inside. And with the climbing plant growing all around the wire trellis, the compost at work will be hidden from view.

Learn how to build a compost bin from wood pallets in this video:

There you have it, practical gardeners, compost bins you can DIY on a budget or for free! Whether you're worm composting, maintaining a kitchen compost, or piling leaves as compost materials, these compost bins will save you a lot in your budget. Well, it's not a secret I'm totally partial to the wattle compost bin. I think I'll be making that one soon.

How about you? Which of the homemade compost bins do you prefer? I'm excited to know about it in the comments section below.

Now that you've picked your choice of a compost bin, check out the proper compost materials for an organic compost here.

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This post was originally published in December 2016 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

Feature image source via Jill Blakeway