Compost Site - Self-Serve Compost

Address: Across the street from the Hazardous Waste Facility - 305 Energy Parkway NE, Rochester, MN 55906
(Formerly Silver Creek Road NE)
Phone: 507-328-7070
Compost Site Hours: Open seven days a week during daylight hours
Department Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Email: pwservice@olmstedcounty.gov

Finished Compost

Self-Serve

• Finished compost is available for pick-up on the north side of the Compost Site. Bring a shovel to load your bucket, pickup truck, or trailer.
• Donation boxes are available on-site for residents and businesses who wish to support the Compost Site's daily operations.

Suggested Donation Rates

• $.50/5-gallon bucket
• $5/car load
• $20/pickup or trailer Load

Benefits of Compost

Compost can be used in many ways: mixed directly into garden soils, spread as a top dressing on lawns, applied as surface mulch around plants and trees, and added as an amendment to potting soil mixes. Adding compost to finely-textured or clayey soils will increase moisture infiltration rates, improve drainage capacities, and reduce soil compaction. On sandy soils, incorporating organic matter helps improve the soil’s ability to hold water and enables the soil to retain nutrients longer. As a layer spread over the ground surface, compost will help control weed seed germination, reduce water loss, moderate soil temperature extremes, and help reduce the compaction effects of heavy rains and sprinkler irrigation. Other benefits of compost include:

• supplies beneficial microorganisms to soils and growing media;
• encourages vigorous root growth;
• helps make nutrients more available for plant uptake; and
• supplies significant quantities of organic matter to soils (all soils benefit from yearly additions of organic matter from compost).

Bulk Orders

April - November: An Olmsted County employee is available to load vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000 lbs. (or greater) for a fee of $15 per ton or $12 per cubic yard from 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Monday - Friday.

December - March: Bulk loading is available by request only; residents should call 507-328-7070 to schedule an appointment.

Grass Clippings - Benefits Of Mulching At Home

• You save gas, time, and money
• Recycling your clippings to your lawn:
• provides needed nutrients to your grass
• reduces need for fertilizer applications
• Improves your soil
• Benefits of Recycling Your Lawn Clippings - University of Minnesota Extension

Leaves - Benefits Of Mulching At Home

• You save gas, time, and money
• Mulching your leaves onto your yard adds organic matter and nutrients to your lawn
• Benefits of Mulching Leaves - University of Minnesota Extension

Backyard Composting

The University of Minnesota Extension has created detailed instructions on backyard composting.