Natural Garden Compost Tips
It’s no wonder that some of the world’s most beautiful natural gardens are found in the most remote places. After all, Mother Nature is the world’s best gardener. If you want to create a garden that’s naturally lush and vibrant, without using harsh chemicals, use nature’s perfect fertilizer: garden compost.
Composting is the oldest method of fertilizing plants, from leafy shrubs and trees to exotic flowers. Take the rainforest, for example. The entire floor of the rainforest is a carpet of naturally occurring compost that’s constantly providing shelter, support and food for all types of plant life.
It’s easy to create your own perfect fertilizer just by saving food scraps and yard waste. You’ll also save a load of money on garden center supplies, and you’ll reduce waste. Creating your own garden compost is a win-win-win situation! When complete, your garden compost will be a dark, crumbly mixture of decomposed organic matter.
Creating garden compost is so easy to do, and just wait till you see how many ways it can benefit your blooms:
* Provides essential nutrients to plants
* Reduces the need for harmful fertilizers
* Improves the quality of sandy soil or heavy clay
* Reduces watering
* Help control pesky weeds
Create Your Own Garden Compost
The recipe for garden compost is very basic. Always remember the gardener’s rule of thumb: two parts brown, to one part green.
A compost pile is a bustling community of microorganisms. These tiny creatures exist by breaking down organic matter, like yard debris and organic scraps, and turning them into compost. You’ll need to take an active role in encouraging the growth of these microorganisms.
Natural flower fertilizers, like dried leaves, can be used as the two parts carbon-rich “brown” materials. Mix it with one-part nitrogen-rich “green” materials such as fresh grass clippings. The result will be an all-natural fertilizer that acts as ideal fuel for those hungry populations of microorganisms. Soon they’ll get active, heat up your yard debris and produce valuable garden compost.
Garden Compost Ingredients
Your “two parts brown” can contain any combination of the following materials:
* Dried leaves and grass clippings
* Small sticks and twigs
* Shredded newsprint
* Hay or straw
* Wood chips, wood shavings or sawdust
* Old potting soil
The “one part green” may include any of the following:
* Green grass clippings
* Freshly fallen leaves
* Plant trimmings (stems and stalks)
* Hedge and tree clippings
* Annual weeds (no seed heads)
* Vegetable and fruit scraps
* Tea bags, coffee grounds and filters
* Egg shells
Some materials should NEVER be used in garden compost:
* Sick, diseased plants
* Seed heads from weeds
* Invasive weeds like quack grass and morning glory
* Cereal grains and bread
* Meat, fish or bones
* All dairy products
* Grease, cooking oil, oily foods
* Feces from pets
* Dead animal life
Size Matters
Smaller composting components bring about rich, usable compost more quickly. Large pieces of vegetables obviously take longer to break down than smaller pieces. Leftover fruits and vegetables should be chopped into small pieces. Garden debris can be cut up with shears or a machete. A garden chipper, shredder or lawnmower mulching attachment is a handy tool for breaking up sticks and twigs.
If your compost pile is no less than three feet in diameter, you’ll see even faster garden compost action. This is where size really matters, because the actual composting occurs when those millions of microorganisms living in your soil begin to generate heat. As the microorganisms process the raw materials, they release energy to help activate the decomposition. A compost pile that’s at least three square feet in diameter is the optimum size for the hottest and fastest composting.
Air and Water
Compost is a living thing, and it needs water and air to survive. The microorganisms in your garden compost can’t do their jobs if they don’t receive an ample supply of water and air. Regularly sprinkle water over your compost, but don’t drown it. Make it about as wet as a damp sponge.
You can incorporate air into the mixture by turning the compost once a week with a pitchfork. Turning the compost will also help to distribute the efforts of the microorganisms. Without turning, you’ll have a layer of rich compost at the bottom of the pile with a pile of dry garden waste on top.
The best gardening advice comes right from the source: Mother Nature herself. Natural garden compost is so easy to make, and your bright, beautiful plants will be more than enough payment for your efforts.
