About cup of fertilizer for each 25 square feet of surface area should be adequate. An equal amount of ground limestone or wood ash can added if pine-straw or woody material is composted. Normally we omit lime to produce a slightly acidic compost that is higher in nitrogen. No extra nitrogen is required when composting materials from lush, succulent growth or grass clippings. Next, add a layer of garden soil about an inch thick.
Natural soil contains the microbes that help start the decomposition process.
A layer of finished compost may be substituted for the soil. Your plant material is dirty enough to bring some microbes with it, but the soil can speed things along and reduce matting problems. When soil or finished compost and fertilizer are used with layering, special compost activators or starters are not needed for rapid composting. The developed layer just described is the basic unit of construction for a backyard compost pile. Continue to build layers of organic materials, fertilizer and soil until a maximum height of about 5 feet is achieved.