Your compost may be ready to use directly in your garden, but most of the time, it makes a better growing medium if you sift it first.
Below we’ll cover all you need to know about compost sifters, including our top picks. We’ll also explain how you can make a DIY compost sifter using scraps you might already have.
A compost sifter or compost screen is a garden tool that filters debris and wood from your compost. It’s usually made from a wood or metal frame covered in hardware cloth or sometimes chicken wire.
Compost or soil sifters come in all sorts of shapes and designs. There are sifters that sit readily on a wheelbarrow, others that do best leaned against a garden bench, and smaller sifters that you can move around readily.
Even trommel sifters or rotary screens can help you sift through large amounts of soil and compost at a faster pace.
Sifted compost is a better growing medium for a few reasons. For one thing, it’s free of wood and debris. Though some wood in compost is okay, too much will leach the vital nitrogen from your soil.
Sifting also creates aeration in your compost. Aeration improves the soil structure, making it easier for plants to grow. This is especially true for root vegetables, like carrots, that prefer an easy path through the dirt. Finer compost is also ideal for seedlings whose roots are not yet mature.
You can also use your compost sifter to sift the dirt in overgrown garden beds. There, it will help you sort out and remove rocks, weeds, and harmful pests.
No, you don’t necessarily need to sift your compost. However, sifted compost has several advantages over the stuff in your compost bin. And, you’ll want to sift it if you notice any rocks or bigger twigs.
To make a compost sifter, you’ll need to have:
Below you’ll find the top three compost sifters available to buy. After that, we’ll provide project steps for those who prefer to DIY.
The Achla Design Compost Sifter features ⅜ ” wire mesh and galvanized steel construction. It’s durable and should last through multiple gardening seasons.
The openings on this sifter create excellent aeration and are ideal for sifting compost into a relatively fine composition.
The depth of this sifter is decent given that you’ll have to operate it by hand; it’s too small to use a shovel with. We don’t suggest filling it all the way up with compost or soil, as that makes it too heavy. Filling it up ¾ of the way allows for easy operation.
That means this sifter might not be the best tool for bigger projects and is best suited for smaller garden plots.
Of course, the handles are a lovely addition. Not only do they make the sifter easier to use, but they’re also ideal for storage. Just hang your sifter on a wall in the shed! Unfortunately, the handle bolts tend to come loose season to season, but it’s pretty simple to retighten them.
The Speak and Jackson Garden Riddle, also known as a sifter, is unique in that it doesn’t use hardwood cloth or any type of wire in its basket. Instead, the entire sifter is constructed from chrome-plated steel.
Not only is chrome-plated steel more durable than wire mesh, but it’s also rust-resistant. It will resist soil adhesion, too, allowing sifted soil and compost to glide effortlessly through the basket’s holes.
Unfortunately, the chrome-plated steel has very rough edges, and Spear and Jackson don’t provide any handle on their product. That means you’ll need thick gardening gloves to use this tool.
Really though, you were probably going to wear gloves for your garden work already, so needing them for this compost sifter is hardly an inconvenience.
With a traditional build from rough sawn sustainable cedar, the Raw Rutes garden sifter provides gardeners with a sturdy and durable tool.
This handheld sifter is lightly sanded for a smooth but natural finish, giving it a rustic aesthetic that many gardeners love. It also features a steel mesh basket, which is stronger than standard hardwood cloth.
All that said, this sifter is made of unfinished wood, and splinters can become a problem with use and time. So, you’ll want to wear gloves to protect your hands.
The rectangular shape makes it easy to use over a compost bin, tray, or even a small wheelbarrow, but this sifter is light enough that you can also use it by hand without any trouble.
While we wish the Raw Rutes Cedar Garden Sifter had handles, we can’t complain. This sifter is durable, easy to use, and should last a long time.
The SE Patented Stackable sifting pan measures 13.25 x 13.25 x 3.5 inches and thus holds a considerable amount of compost. Such a size allows it to fit comfortably on a 5-gallon bucket.
Its frame is of sturdy, lightweight, and rust-resistant plastic material. At the base, it has 304 stainless steel wire mesh that’s 0.95mm thick. So, the compost sifter is promising in quality. It uses an adequately aerated mesh screen of ¼ inches.
After loading compost on the sifter, the sturdy stainless steel material proves useful. There is additional support for the meshed base. That prevents the screen mesh from bowing down under the weight of compost.
Instead of buying three different compost sifters, try the Hanafubuki Wazakura. It’s a single compost sifter that gives you three sieves of diverse sizes. Therefore, you can sieve compost to varying fineness.
And changing one sieve to the next is simple. You only turn it upside down and tap lightly on the base. The Hanafubuki compost sifter measures 210mm x 65mm. Its frame is of a durable stainless steel frame. And at the base, it has iron sieves that do not bow easily.
Though it’s of stainless steel, it still possesses a manageable weight of 245g. The interchangeable screen mesh comes in sizes of 0.04inches, 0.11inches, and 0.19inches. The sieve is iron and so requires careful care to keep off the rust. Before storage, dry it thoroughly.
The Earthkeeping green heavy-duty sifter makes work easier. It easily fits on top of a wheelbarrow, tub, or cart. Therefore you don’t have to bend down excessively. The rotary compost sifter is 24 inches long and has an opening diameter of 12 inches.
Though it weighs 9.8lbs, you don’t have to bear its weight. From its screen circumference of 37 inches and ¼ inch openings, it sieves a high volume of compost at ago. Also, the rotary compost sifter uses PVC-coated heavy-duty wire. Further rivets lock the wire in place.
As a boost of its lifespan, it makes use of UV treated PVC material. Besides helping in sifting compost it also proves helpful in sieving soil, wood pellets or rocks. It stands vertically during storage and so requires minimal space.
Using a compost sifter is a pretty straightforward process. With smaller sifters, you can use your hands or a small trowel to shovel compost from your compost bin into the sifter basket. Then shake it back and forth to free the smaller bits.
Larger sifters work best with a shovel while leaning against a wall or bench. Place them at a 30-degree angle for best results. Then shovel your finished compost over the upper part of the sifter’s mesh.
Gravity will do most of the work for you, but you can also use your shovel to guide the compost down the sifter’s wiring, pushing the smaller bits through and removing any debris.
Although using a compost sifter is easy, there are a few things to know before attempting it. For one thing, you won’t be able to use it if your compost is too damp. Damp compost will clump together, making it hard to sift out larger debris alone.
You also want to ensure you don’t overfill your sifter at any point. It’s better to use small, quick loads than larger ones. It may seem like more work, but it will save you time in the long run.
Of course, a compost sifter isn’t solely for sifting compost. It also comes in handy if you need to sift soil in a previously uncared for garden bed or if you need to hose down rocks to create a garden path.
Making a wheelbarrow sifter is similar to the standard DIY sifter we discussed above. However, your wheelbarrow sifter needs to be large enough to stretch across your wheelbarrow.
So it can sit comfortably, you’ll need to build a frame and then an inner tray that holds the mesh wiring. The structure will straddle the wheelbarrow’s edges, keeping it secure, while the tray moves like a drawer, allowing you to sift the compost through quickly.
There aren’t any other garden tools that you can use in place of a sifter. Given that they’re pretty easy to construct with scraps you might already have on hand, it’s best to build (or purchase) a sifter if you need one.
You should sift compost directly before laying it in your garden. So, usually, that means sifting your compost pile in spring and again in fall.
With the right technique, you can usually dry out wet compost in a day or two.
To do so, try adding “dry browns” (dead leaves) or sawdust to your compost pile. Check it after 24 hours to see if it’s dry enough to use. If it’s still damp, you can repeat the process one more time, adding more dead leaves or sawdust to help absorb more excess moisture.
Compost sifters aren’t required for making your garden grow, but they’re certainly a helpful tool! You can use them to weed out wood and rocks you don’t want in your soil, and they’re great for aeration purposes.
But chances are you’ll find your sifter is good for more than just that. Whether you’re cleaning rocks for a walkway or sifting soil in an overgrown bed, a compost sifter is a tool every gardener should have.
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