Gardener’s Guide to Compost
With opportunities to get out into the garden somewhat limited at this time of year, now’s the time to reflect on our recent gardening activities and plan how to make things even better next year. Regardless of the size and type of garden, here are some general tips and suggestions to help you on your way in the coming season.
The secret of any good garden is a good soil or homemade compost. Now is the time to act to make and store your own compost, as not only is the garden missing out on a valuable commodity, your pocket will feel the benefit too! Every garden will generate compostable waste during the year, but it’s staggering just how much originates from inside the house too. A small compost caddy that sits on the kitchen work-top, ready to receive spent teabags, coffee grounds and vegetable peelings is a great asset and you’ll be amazed how much material can be added to the compost bin, instead of the wheelie bin each week.
A brilliant way to use your garden compost (once it has rotted down) is as a mulch. Mulching brings so many benefits to the garden; it’s probably one of the most productive things that the gardener can do. Benefits include conserving moisture, suppressing weeds (both saving you work!) and when bulky organic mulch (such as compost) is used you’ll be feeding and conditioning the soil too. Traditionally only certain parts of the garden are treated to mulch, such as the rose bed or the shrub border, but almost any area will benefit including the vegetable plot and containers too. Even the empty veg plot will benefit from a generous layer of homemade compost or manure, which will soon find its way into the earth via earthworm activity, rainfall and gravity.
Green manures are another traditional practice, which deserves wider practice by the vegetable grower. Sown at the right time between crops, a green manure will mature quickly and when dug back into the soil it will add nutrients and organic matter to benefit the following crop. Our local garden centres now sell a selection of different green manure seeds to suit differing requirements. Have a look when you’re buying your other seeds for the spring.
Fun Fact
Beer can be extremely useful in the garden. When slugs are active, try placing beer traps in the soil and you’ll be amazed how effective they are. “Plant” a jam-jar in the soil, so that the top is level with the soil surface and fill with old beer until it’s just an inch short of being full. You now have a slug pub in your garden!
Always make sure to have liquid fertiliser on hand in the shed or garage and whenever planting out something new in the spring or summer, water it in with a feed. This helps to counteract any transplanting shock and if you’re an impatient gardener, you’ll be happy to see your plants establish quickly.