Home & Family Facts and Notes

Want the best gardening advice? Go straight to the source. Mother Nature, after all, is the world’s best gardener, and some of the world’s most beautiful gardens are found in the most remote places. To create a garden that’s naturally lush and vibrant, without using harsh chemicals, use garden compost. It’s nature’s perfect fertilizer.

Composting is a natural method of fertilizing all types of plants, from leafy shrubs and trees to exotic flowers. Think of the rainforest. Its entire floor is a carpet of naturally-occurring compost that provides constant shelter, support and food for all types of plant life.

Creating your own perfect compost is easy. All you need to do is save your food scraps and yard waste. You’ll save money on garden center supplies, reduce waste and feed the environment. It’s a win-win-win situation! With a little effort, you’ll have a dark, crumbly and nutritious mixture of decomposed organic matter.

Garden compost is so easy to create, and it benefits your blooms in so many ways:

* Provide essential nutrients to plants

* Reduce the need for harsh fertilizers

* Improve the quality of heavy clay or sandy soil

* Reduce the amount of water required

* Helps to control pesky weeds

Create Your Own Garden Compost

There is a very basic recipe for creating garden compost. Just 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.

Dried leaves and other natural flower fertilizers can be used as the two parts carbon-rich “brown” materials. Mix this with one-part nitrogen-rich “green” materials, like fresh grass clippings. This all-natural fertilizer provides the ideal fuel for those hungry microorganisms. They’ll soon kick in to high gear and heat up your yard debris, producing valuable garden compost.

Ingredients

Your “two parts brown” can contain any combination of the following materials:

* Dried leaves and dry grass clippings

* Twigs and small sticks

* Newspaper (shredded)

* Straw or hay

* Wood chips, wood shavings or sawdust

* Potting soil

The “one part green” may include any of the following:

* Fresh, green grass clippings

* Newly fallen leaves

* Plant stems and stalks

* Hedge and tree clippings

* Annual weeds, without seed heads

* Kitchen scraps (fruit and vegetable)

* Coffee grounds, filters, tea bags

* Egg shells

Some materials should NEVER be used in garden compost:

* Diseased plant life

* Seed heads from weeds

* Invasive weeds (morning glory, quack grass)

* Bread, cereal grains

* Meat, fish and bones

* Any dairy products

* Grease, cooking oil, oily foods

* Feces from pets

* Deceased animals

Size Does Matter

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.

For even faster garden compost action, your compost pile should be no less than three feet in diameter. Size is important, because the actual composting occurs from the heat generated by those millions of microorganisms living in your soil. As they process the raw materials, they release energy that helps to activate the decomposition. A compost pile of at least three square feet is the best size for hotter, faster composting.

Fresh 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.

To incorporate air into the mixture, use a pitchfork to turn the compost materials one every week. This can also help to distribute the efforts of the microorganisms. If you don’t turn the compost, you’ll have a rich layer of compost at the bottom of the pile, and a heap 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.