The Five point plan for successful composting

Making your own compost is not only good for the environment but also good for your plants in your garden. Making your own compost is not only easy and exciting but also valuable ‘brown gold’. But why do so many gardeners have problems producing the ‘brown gold’? Problems usually occur when too much wet or dry material has been added or more likely insufficient variety of raw material.

But making good quality compost is not difficult providing you follow the five simple rules. Follow these five simple rules and you too can produce your very own ‘brown gold’ home made compost.

Rule # 1: Well for starters, good compost requires a good mixture of raw material, air and water.

Rule # 2: Do not allow compost heap become too dry or too wet, so introduce some air into the composter by turning contents regularly with garden fork at least once per month.

Rule # 3: To keep vermin and flies away, avoid putting any cooked food or meats onto the compost heap.

Rule # 4: To prevent any nasty odours, do not add large amounts of grass cuttings, which with high water content can cause a slimy mess. 

Rule # 5: Avoid the risk of spreading any weed seed by disposing of all weeds separately.

Remember good raw material will include all round mix of high nitrogen (grass, plants, and vegetable cuttings) and high carbon (dried leaves, hedge clippings) ingredients in your composter. Moisture stimulates bacterial activity which produces the ‘brown gold’.

The process from start to finish can take 3-6 months to complete and it is a good idea to have two composting units running in parallel, one very advanced and one at early stage.

The author is a leading Garden Designer and Landscaper based in Dublin, Ireland. Many of his ideas and advice have been tried and tested through many years of professional experience as owner manager of a well established and award winning garden design and landscaping company which provides Private and Commercial clients a complete landscaping service including Garden Design, Construction & Planting.

For more information about company and inspiring aspects of landscaping, visit:

http://www.owenchubblandscapers.com