All You Should Know About Compost

Learn why this essential garden additive is so important to the health of your plants

Compostingis a common recitation among nurseryman who want their soil to be healthy and nutrient - deep . Composting is the natural physical process of recycling organic topic , such as nutrient barren or leaf , into a worthful plant food that can enrich soil . It is a dark , crumbly , down-to-earth - smell material that is invaluable to the garden . In this video , Bill Olkowski , a specialist in integrated pestis direction and biologic control of insects , explains why compost is dear for your plants ’ wellness and identifies the material you ’ll need to create a composting area in your own garden .

Why you need compost

Compost is used for myriad reason . It ’s a marvelous way to reduce waste material that would normally go into a landfill and is also an important ingredient in your garden beds , specially if you desire to spring up food crops on any graduated table . Compost can be used as a mulch to smother weeds , and it can be used as afertilizer . If you put compost on the surface of the land , organisms within the soil will disclose it down and deliver the food - robust by - product to plant roots . This often makes the works raise comfortably than if you were using synthetic fertilizer .

Good materials to have on hand

To get the best compost , you ’ll necessitate to find goodmulch . When used by itself , mulch is great at suppressing pot , but it ’s also a great additive for compost .

Next there is sawdust , which ingest wet from food dissipation so you wo n’t get many flies . It reduces olfactory property and provides a atomic number 7 - carbon equipoise to compost .

Then there’smanure . It sounds unpleasant , but your plants will lie with it . Manure acts as a slow - release fertilizer that provides small sum of nutrient over an extended meter .

The aerobic process for sterilizing waste into compost

Bill urge making your compost using the “ three - bin ” method . For asmall - scale leaf garden , though , you just need two bin .

You want your BIN to hold in moisture , keep water and pelting out , and keep heat in . You require your bins to heat up to 160 ° F to bolt down fly ball , pathogens , or any type of being that ’s deep down . Only an active aerophilic composting mental process can totally guarantee dependable , healthy , mature compost .

A supplement to the 2013 edition of Common Sense Pest Control from Taunton Press .

Get our late peak , how - to article , and instructional telecasting sent to your inbox .

sign you up …

Healthy Soil Is at the Heart of a Thriving Garden

Everything You Should Know About Powdery Mildew

Never Forget a Plant’s Name Again

A Simple Way To Start Seeds Indoors

fall in Fine Gardening for a free engaging alive webinar feature Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned plant pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical manager …

When I spotted a finical sand dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I know I was in difficulty . With a delightful color pattern …

When we only prioritize plants we require over plants our landscape painting needs , each time of year is filled with a never - terminate tilt of chore : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be measured when you enroll the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to trip on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a pair …