GARDENING Basics 101 Part 2

COMPOST

The best time to make compost is spring as it can rot down faster. It is a great source of bulky organic material to use in your garden. It is easy and costs nothing to make your own compost. Your garden will also benefit from all that mulch that you make.

There are two types of composts, soil less compost is made from peat or a substitute of bark or coir. Soil-based composts are a mixture of sterilized soil, peat or an alternative like sand.

Soil-less compost is suitable for sowing and potting household plants.
Always make sure you use moist, warmed to room temperature and fresh compost. Do not keep left over compost from one season to the next as the fertilizers change into harmful chemicals with age, but you can still use your old supply to improve the soil outdoors.

Most city councils supply households with bins to make your own compost, but if you are not able to get one of these bins, you can always make your own compost heap.

THINGS YOU CAN PUT ON THE COMPOST:

Shredded paper, but not shiny/glossy magazines
Dead leaves
Prunings
Uncooked vegetable trimmings, peelings
Used Tea bags from the kitchen
Annual weeds
Tops of perennial weeds
Old bedding plants
Lawn mowings
Soft hedge trimmings

Things that you should not put in your compost:

Synthetic material
Cooked food scrapes
Dog or cat waste
Soil pests
Any weeds with seed heads
Meat or bones


For more on landscaping, please visit www.tnnursery.net