The Excellent Soil Improver

Turning organic matter into garden compost will improve soil condition to ensure peak performance from your plot of earth growing bigger, better and healthier plants.

Mulching and composting are the ways to produce compost.  Every gardener has a garden compost heap and a special recipe for composting.  True garden lovers exchange gardening tips on how to achieve garden compost and spend long hours nurturing, turning and topping up their mound. Fast-tack this procedure by adding microorganisms and nitrogen-rich nutrients in these rice-sized pellets which help jump start the composting process, so you’ll get finished results more quickly.  Compost Plus is specially formulated to compost leaves and lawn clippings. Use with any composter for faster results.

The truth of the matter is that your garden soil needs a regular application of organic matter if it is to continue to work properly.  Mulching and composting are excellent ways to control the organic matter and to ensure peak performance from your garden.  It is a waste to take grass clippings and plant prunings to the tip, and not use them to improve your own garden.  It is not advisable to put  grass clippings directly on your gardens as mulch while still fresh, because they may form an impervious crust and slow down the growth of your plants.

Suggested brewing techniques for garden compost

Firstly, build your garden compost bin.  Skilled garden compost producers insist that not one, but two bins are desirable; one for fresh organic matter and the other for material ready to use.  There is a sound base of logic here; the second heap avoids the worst problem a composter has to face – that of having no usable garden compost!

Even ice cream can be turned into nutrient rich, dark  compost as well as food scraps from schools and restaurants because just like leaves and grass clippings, horse manure and bedding from local stables is 100% organic and when blended to the other listed ingredients makes it the ultimate organic compost and soil conditioner!

Garden compost bins are made of brick, fibro or concrete blocks, or can be bought in tumbler or bin designs. The type you use is of little importance, it’s a matter of choice. Most purists build their own Garden compost bins.  All garden compost bins must be bottomless – it is absolutely essential to have contact between garden compost and the bare earth.

Alternate 15cm (6”) layers of grass clippings, leaves, and so on, with 2.5cm (1”) layers of garden soil.  On top of each layer of clippings and leaves, spread some fertiliser; 250g (9oz) of sulphate of ammonia, a bucket of chook manure or whatever happens to be lying about.  Continue building layers until the heap is full.  It is very important to ensure that the garden compost heap is kept moist but not wet.  Gardeners say ‘Anything that has lived once can live again’. That is, anything organic can be composted.  For information on The World's Best Compost Click Here!

Nonetheless, it is recommended that you avoid the following:

Trunks of trees greater than 30cm (12”) in diameter; dead household pets such as dogs or cats (birds on the other hand, turn to garden compost quite well though); bulbous weeds such as onion weed, oxalis and nut grass, and also diseased plants.

The following items are excellent for composting:

Kitchen veggie scraps, leaves, fruit peelings, coffee grounds,  tea leaves, animal manures and human hair.  Human hair is regarded as the best of all garden compost ingredients; some gardeners recommend a good handful or two to be buried under rose bushes at planting time to help future growth.  And to think that hairdressers just sweep it up and throw it away!

Within the space of a week or so the heap will become somewhat hot, as decomposition begins.  As it rots down, it is a good idea to turn the mound over every alternating week.  The garden compost is complete when it is crumbly and dark brown.  It takes about eight weeks to arrive at this stage, in warm weather.  In the winter time it can take up to five months.

At this point, neighbouring gardeners will converge on your yard to appraise your brew and obtain tips and give you plenty of advice relating to the colour, odour, consistency of your heap and even the number of worms you should have present.  If garden compost is referred to as the nutrients for your plants, then humus may truly be regarded as nature's ultimate plant food! Having built and filled your garden compost bins, you can now apply for membership to the Royal Horticultural Society, for you are now a qualified gardener!