GARDEN + GARDENING + GARDENING TIPS & ADVICE

A gardener’s guide to composting

There really is no excuse for any gardener to not compost their kitchen and garden waste. Compost is garden gold and is very expensive. Throwing your kitchen waste and grass clippings into landfill is a crime. This article is intended to inspire and advise all gardeners to create their own nutrient rich compost.

The bin

One of the reasons why I make my own compost is the cost of compost in garden centres and DIY stores. It amazes me that people would even consider buying a purpose built compost bin from a garden centre. With a little bit of time and inspiration you can build your own bin for free. My compost bin is made up from a few pallets that I picked up for free from a company on an industrial estate. Pallets make ideal compost bins as they naturally have gaps in the slates of wood which allows air to circulate around your compost. It is important to ask the company who owns the pallets first before taking them. Certain pallets are worth quite a bit of money and taking them without permission is theft!

You can also make a bin out of an old wheelie bin. You will need to cut out the bottom (so that worms can get up from the ground) as well as making plenty of holes in it so that air can get in. The other idea is to just create an open compost heap by just cornering off an area in your garden with posts and boards of wood or corrugated metal. This is probably not suitable for a smaller garden as it doesn’t look particularly attractive, but in a large garden you can tuck it behind a tree or corner it off behind a piece of spare fencing.

You will need plenty of holes in the sides so that air can get into your compost. You will also need some way to get the compost out of your bin before you can put it on your garden so some sort of door at the bottom might be useful apart from that you can let your imagination to run wild.

The garden

Having a small garden or a small space shouldn’t really be a reason not to have a compost bin. In fact you should be able to set up a suitable bin in any space. If you only have a small patio or small garden you may want to consider buying a purpose built bin, despite my comments above. This is purely because a purpose built plastic bin will probably be more contained than a home built bin. It also will probably look a little nicer.
What can I put in my compost bin?
There are two main types of items you can put into your bin. They can be classified under two headings. ‘Dry browns’ and ‘wet greens.’

Dry Browns

These include the following kinds of things

Straw
Stardust
Brown leaves
Twigs
Shredded paper

Dry brown waste is useful to add carbon to your compost.

Wet greens

These can include:

Vegetable peelings
Grass cuttings
Egg shells
Coffee grounds
Tea bags
Old cut flowers
Wet greens are high in nitrogen.

The following is a list of things you should try and avoid.

Weeds – although you can add some old weeds, it is essential that you don’t add seeds or weeds that have flowered. If you are in doubt, its best to avoid these.
Diseased plants – the diseases will end up going straight back into your garden which will cause you further problems.
Cooked food – this will attract rodents.
Meat and bones – will attract rodents and flies.

How it works

Compost is pretty fascinating stuff – once the compost is fully ready it has become a substance in its own right and no longer resembles anything that you have put into the bin. It works by decomposing the organic matter into more basic elements. The bacteria heats up the pile to around 50 degrees Celsius. Also worms in your compost break down the organic matter – worms really are your best friend!

Once your compost is ready you can dig it into your garden and greatly improve your soil – it’s free and great for the environment. You would be mad not to make your own!

Growing your own vegatables
Making your own Compost

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While you select the design for the garden shed, think of the function that it is to support. Would you like to have a non complex storage place for your most essential garden gear that you may consider relocating to a different place if your life circumstances change? Or rather, are you thinking of the state of art structure that you and your family may enjoy for the lifetime?

Modern time garden shed designs generally favor the latter concept by which your shed is rather a minimized replica of your own house rather than a hermitically sealed capsule to store your garden equipment.

While you may easily copy the design from someone else’s actual shed or from the marketing prospect that you see on the internet, the entire set of various shelves and boxes to store your gardening equipment may be tailored in a way to fit your exclusive taste and needs. This will ensure the best price to quality ratio as choosing from the pre made sheds offered through the retail sales might not fit your requirements both in terms of price and design.

Get actually started implementing your design idea calculating the space of the interior of you shade so that you have a proper space for every piece of your equipment. Next, try to make it resemble the exterior of your house for as much as possible. This way your shed will be a fine element of the entire housing ensemble.

As many people have mastered sheds with their own hands, so will you. Just bear in mind that part of the concept of the self-made garden shed is being able to enjoy the building process, which of course is aside of the rational idea of optimizing the price and functionality of the structure that you are to build.

The is one thing that that you might require for gardening is a good shed. For the list of gardens sheds, please visit this web site that majors at storage for sheds. You will find out how to construct a garden shed in seconds.