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The Dirt on Composting: Gardening
With Charlie
By Charlie Nardozzi
Gardening is dirty business, but that’s a good thing because
building healthy soil is essential for growing productive flowers,
vegetables, and herbs. One of the best ways to improve your soil is
to add compost. While not high in fertilizer value, compost has many
benefits, including making nutrients more available to plants,
improving water drainage on clay soils, and retaining water on sandy
soils. Fall is a great time to make or buy compost and add it to
your garden beds.
Buying Compost
First you need to know how much compost to add. For existing flower
and vegetable gardens, work in a 1- to 2-inch-thick layer of compost
in spring or fall. For a new garden on poor soil, add a thicker
layer.
The easiest way to apply compost to a small garden is to buy bags.
Bagged compost is usually sterilized and free of weed seeds. While
more expensive than buying in bulk, buying compost in bags is more
convenient.
For larger gardens, buy compost in bulk. Many garden centers,
nurseries, and even municipalities sell bulk compost. Get to know
your compost before buying it. The compost should be dark colored
with an earthy smell and some small chunks of organic matter. Avoid
foul-smelling compost or compost with large amounts of undecomposed
material. To haul it, consider finding a friend with a pick-up truck
to share a load.
Making Your Own
The cheapest way to get compost is to make your own. “Not only do
you get the satisfaction of knowing what’s in your compost, you save
money by not paying to haul your yard waste away, and help the
environment by not filling up the local landfill,” says Chip Tynan,
horticulturist and composting teacher at the Missouri Botanical
Garden in St. Louis. Fall is the perfect time to make compost. Your
yard is loaded with compostable materials, such as grass clippings,
leaves, vegetable debris, and old plants.
To build a compost pile, choose a spot near your garden or kitchen
so you can easily add organic matter. Construct or buy a 3- to 4-
foot-wide and tall container. Compost bins are typically constructed
of wire, plastic, or wood. Add a 4- to 6-inch-thick layer of brown
material (chopped leaves, straw, hay) on the bottom of the pile. Add
a 2- to 4-inch-thick layer of green materials (grass clippings,
vegetable plants, vegetable kitchen scraps) on top of the brown
layer. (Avoid adding any meats or oils since these will attract
animals.) Alternate layers, moistening each one until the pile fills
the bin. Cover the bin to prevent animals from entering and to keep
the pile from getting too wet.
The pile will heat up as it decomposes. Once the pile has cooled,
mix and moisten the materials, and the pile should heat up again.
Repeat this mixing process a few times, and in a few months you
should have finished compost to use in your garden.
Charlie Nardozzi, a nationally recognized garden writer, book
author, speaker and radio and television personality, has appeared
on HGTV, PBS and Discovery Channel television networks. He is the
senior horticulturist and spokesperson for the National Gardening
Association ( www.garden.org )
Chief Gardening Officer for the Hilton Garden Inn.
Courtesy of Family Features
All materials courtesy of National Gardening Association
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