Compost is formed when garden debris is allowed to decay. It is an organic matter. If you want to succeed as an organic gardener, you must take full advantage of using compost. It is good for increasing the fertility of the soil for planting seeds. It also forms an useful element for greenhouse and potting soil development. The nutrient value of cost depends on the fertilizers and other nutrient-rich materials which are added to it as it goes through the decomposing process.
The benefits of a composted humus is invaluable to the average gardener. It is no wonder that most amateur gardeners use compost in some form or the other. When nutritive elements have been added to compost it is used as rotted manure, while it is used as humus when no nutrients have been added.
To make the soil soft, spongy and absorbent, the best garden loam is used which contain one-third humus. Soil that is sandy and humus-deficient, permit rain water to seep through taking all the nutrients down with it. Likewise, a clay soil without humus is so hard that it nearly repels water, and does not let the roots to travel down looking for food and moisture.
Any organic matter can decompose (compost) if left at the mercy of the elements. Leaves, grass clippings, plant tops, straw, old hay, and sod are some of the materials which make good compost.
It is a common practice with many gardeners to add humus in the form of weeds (that is raw organic material) to soil without making a compost. They dig them in borders and all round the plants.
When you add raw organic matter to the soil, it causes soil bacteria to hasten the activity of humus. The soil can then be depleted of nitrogen causing leaves to turn yellow. Thus it makes sense to remove the weeds to the heap of compost, returning them to the soil once they have become compost. Leaf mold and peat moss are ready compost material that can be added to the soil without any further composting. They are good organic materials.
There are several ways you can make a compost pile. You can use a 15 feet or so snow fencing wired into a circle in which a leaf pile is kept. You can have a series of them in a row. Within 2 years, or less, depending on the weather conditions, this leaf pile will turn into compost without any extra effort from you. Compost made of variety of leaves is a good source of additional potting humus, but offer very little nutritional value. Broad leaved ever greens love acidic environment. Since beech and oak leaves are acidic, they make excellent additional humus to be placed around these trees. |
| Author: Jackson Porter |
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Author Bio:
Jackson Porter is a staff writer at Home Garden Enthusiast and is an occasional contributor to several other websites, including Environmental Central. |
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