Garden Compost Tips

2008-04-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Wonderful World of How to make Garden Compost.

In this issue I'm showing you some secrets about getting the best out of your Garden plants.

Before we go into that I have something really cool lined up for you - I'm creating a membershipsite for all my customers and subscribers.

This will be the 'Garden Compost Success Club'.

The good news is that I'm not going to charge you a dime for it - yes it will be totally free.

So each month you will get a content packed issue of the Garden Compost Success newsletter PLUS more great stuff in your totally freemembership site!

Stay tuned; I'll be giving you more details soon, but for now back to this month’s newsletter:

Garden Compost.

Where it is possible to make compost, this is the best material of all for the gardener to use. All kinds of green material and garden waste can be incorporated in the heap including annual weeds. Grass Mowings, Hedge Trimmings, Pea, Tomato and Bean haulm, old flower stems and so on. If a proportion of manure can be obtained, this also should be included in the heap, though it is not absolutely essential. Poultry manure, if included, should not exceed 20 per cent in bulk and should be applied in layers not more than an inch thick. A thick layer of poultry manure will prevent air from circulating and retard the break-down of the heap. It is often possible to obtain industrial or semi-industrial organic waste (waste from eating establishments and hotels) that, if incorporated in reasonable proportions, can be of great value.

Seaweed is probably the most valuable of all, and other materials which I have used include water-weed from rivers and canals, decayed sawdust from the old sawmills and waste coffee, cocoa residues from various industrial processes, also we have used hemp not the type that some people smoke, (if you tried to smoke this type you would have to roll a joint the size of a telegraph pole to get any sort of buzz) we only use the type for making rope.

Fresh fallen leaves have a delaying effect on the break-down of the heap and it is better, therefore, to allow them to rot by themselves for a year or two and then to incorporate them in the compost heap.

I find that the Garden Compost Heap should not exceed four feet square and about three feet high, but they can be made of any desired size. If the Compost Heap is made to wide or to high, there will be a lack of air and the majority of the necessary bacteria will not multiply. The Garden Compost Heap should be built on soil rather than on a concrete base or on gravel. If it is built on grassland, it is better to dig out the top 4 inches of the grass. In any case, there should be a loose layer of hard, woody material to assist aeration.

Baled Straw is the best material to use for the walls; it provides a neat, convenient method of making the heap and enables the compost to decompose fully right up to the walls and assists the retention of the heat of decomposition. After the bales have been used two or three times and have started to disintegrate, the Straw Bale can itself be incorporated in the next heap. Many Garden Compost Heaps, however, are made without any retaining walls at all.

Quicker results and more even decomposition will be obtained if the raw materials are mixed and shredded before being put on to the heap and there are several shredding machines on the market which are very efficient. Where no shredder is available, dry materials should be mixed with fresh green matter in alternate layers. Straw Bales of any description should be thoroughly wetted. The layers should not exceed 6 inches in thickness and should be a good deal less in the case of Grass Mowings and any other material that will form a mass which the air cannot penetrate.

A light sprinkling of topsoil or good de-composted compost should be added at every twelve inches of height to introduce bacteria into the heap. A sprinkling of lime dust in the form of crushed chalk at a rate of one ounce to every two square yards may also be added along with the topsoil.

Layers of Well Rotted Farmyard Manure in the Garden Compost Heap will act as an activator, but whether there is Manure in the heap or not, I always use an activator usually herbal based as I find this speeds up decomposition.

The final covering of the Garden Compost Heap can either be an inch or two of topsoil or a rough thatch of straw, slopped to carry off the rain. In large Garden Compost Heaps, vertical air holes are necessary. They should be spaced at 3 feet intervals down the centre of the Garden Compost Heap.

If the heap seems to be drying out, the outside should be wetted. Try to wet evenly and avoid saturation. There may be a certain amount of leaching from the bottom of the Garden Compost Heap if no retaining wall is used. In such a case it is well to spread a thin layer of sawdust, peat or other absorbent organic matter round the base of the Garden Compost Heap. This material can be incorporated into the next Garden Compost Heap that is made and will add to the value of the finished compost.

The process of decomposition will be greatly accelerated by turning the Garden Compost Heap once every 3 to 4 weeks after building. If so desired the Garden Compost Heap can be treated again with an activator during the turning process but this is not essential. Garden Compost Heaps made chiefly of fresh green material will often break down quite successfully without any turning at all but where the material is very dry and made from straw one turn is practically essential.

It is most important that the high temperature at the centre of the Garden Compost Heap should be obtained, otherwise annual weed seeds may survive and be reintroduced all over the garden. It is advisable to purchase a soil thermometer and make sure that the Garden Compost Heap reaches a temperature of no less than 40 degrees Celsius. If the Garden Compost Heap does not heat up, the reason is probably that it has been built to slowly. The remedy is to turn it and add fresh green material; also adding chicken dung pellets will help. There is no objection to incorporating diseased vegetable matter in the well-made Garden Compost Heap that heats up properly. In fact, there is considerable evidence to prove that such a Garden Compost Heap becomes a breeding-ground for bacteria that will fight the disease, and that the resulting Garden Compost Heap, when applied to the soil, will give resistance to, if not immunity from, the disease concerned. This seems to be particularly true in the case of Tomatoes, and many gardeners insist that the compost that they use for their Tomato crops should contain as large a proportion as possible of old Tomato haulm.

Garden Compost-Making is an art that has to be acquired. It is, however, not a difficult art and any Gardener with a reasonable amount of common sense can quickly learn it. It is also, quite frankly, something which we know more about now than lets say 100 years ago mainly because of the advancements in modern scientific research. What I do think is that some gardeners make much to heavy weather of Garden Compost-Making. It need not be anything like the laborious a job as many people think, providing the Garden Compost Heap is sited in the right place as to avoid unnecessary transport of materials. In my own garden in Herefordshire, England, I maintain a 2 Garden Compost Heap all year round; we use a lot of reclaimed Mushroom Compost, this is partly composted already so this cuts down production time. We also have a regular Blog on Mushroom growing, you can find this by going to:-

http://mushroomgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

in this Blog we give guidance on the best Garden Compost suitable for the perfect Mushroom, no special growing rooms or equipment required.

Also have you ever had that dream of growing a Marrow the size of a large kitchen-table, we can show you how, or maybe that Pumpkin that is to big to go through your kitchen door.

Both these blogs are available to read at:-

http://www.marrowgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

and

http://www.pumpkingrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

We hope you have enjoyed this months Blog.

Next month we will be looking at growing super sized vegetables from seed.

http://supersizedveghelp.blogspot.com/

How to capture and save seed from your own super sized veg plants.

We have many free to view websites packed full with Fuchsia photo’s and growing tips. Just click on the link at the top of the page named.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR GARDEN.

Or go to

http://www.dalley-nurseries-onlinehome.org/

Other blogs and articles of interest are at:-
Step by step to Growing Eye Catching Fuchsias
click on:->
http://fuchsiagrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

A guide to the Management of all Types of
Chrysanthemum, Queen of the Autumn.
click on:->
http://chrysanthemumgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Lettuce all year round, my favourite Webb's Wonderful
click on:->
http://lettucegrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Nutritionally, the Tomato is highly esteemed for its
health protective Vitamins and Mineralsclick on:->
http://tomatogrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Garden Design for all Gardens Large or Small
click on:->
http://gardendesignhelp.blogspot.com/

Build up the fertility of your Garden Soil with
Organic Vegetable Compost:->
http://gardencomposthelp.blogspot.com/

One of the best loved soft fruit's, how to grow the
easy way:->
http://strawberrygrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

How to Grow Indoor Cucumbers of the highest
quaility:->
http://cucumbergrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Melon growing, a Delicious Summer Fruit for
Greenhouse and Cloche Cultivation:->
http://melongrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

A Complete Guid to the Production of Grapes
http://grapevinegrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Growing and Showing these very popular
fragrant Garden Flower:->
http://sweetpeagrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Carnations a Complete Guide to their Successful
Cultivation:->
http://carnationgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Asparagus One of the most delicious early summer
vegetables:->
http://asparagusgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Loganberry a very Profitable Cane Fruit for Garden Cultivation
http://loganberrygrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Raspberry a Profitable Soft Fruit, Full Details of How to Produce a Bumper Crop.
http://raspberrygrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Blackberry a Profitable and Easily Grown Hardy Fruit for Garden Cultivation.
http://blackberrygrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Rose a Complete Guide to the Cultivation Of all the popular Types.
http://rosegrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Crop Rotation, Catch Cropping and Successional Cropping
http://croprotationhelp.blogspot.com/

Abelia an attractive leaf-losing or evergreen flowering shrub
http://abeliagrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Abeliophyllum a hardy climbing shrub ideal for wall covering
http://abeliophyllumgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Climbing plants for all areas of the Garden outdoor or indoor
http://climbingplantgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Abies-Silver Fir, Hardy evergreen trees for planting on lawns.
http://abiesgrowinghelp.blogspot.com/

Acanthus, Hardy Perennial Plant valued for it Cut Flowers.
http://acanthusgrowinghelp.blogspot.com

Hardy Border Plants, For a Continuous display of colour.
http://hardyborderplanthelp.blogspot.com

Antirrhinum 'snapdragon' most Popular of all Bedding plants
http://antirrhinumgrowinghelp.blogspot.com

Achillea, a showy front row Plant for the Herbaceous border.
http://achilleagrowinghelp.blogspot.com

Aquilegia, favourite Hardy Border Flower, ideal for cutting.
http://aquilegiagrowinghelp.blogspot.com

Aster, 'Michaelmas Daisy' a showy hardy Perennial for late summer.
http://astermichaelmasdaisygrowinghelp.blogspot.com

Clematis, beautiful Spring and Summer Flowering Climbers for Walls and Arches.
http://clematisgrowinghelp.blogspot.com

If you would like to leave any comments about
our Blogs and articles, please go to:->
http://www.dalley-nurseries-onlinehome.org/
and click on the Guestbook bar.

Garden Compost World

Garden Compost Tips