How to Make Your Own Compost

Compost is nature’s finest fertilizer and you can start your own compost pile easily in the backyard. By making your own compost, you’ll be taking care of your plants while properly disposing of household and backyard waste. If you’re ready to start your own compost pile and need composting tips, here’s enough to get you started.

Make a Compost Area

You must make your compost in a certain area, so section off a plot of land that is three feet square. You can make your compost heap larger, but smaller may prove tricky. Build a simple box if you’d like or you can purchase a compost box from your neighborhood gardening center.

Give Compost a Good Start

The best way to start a compost pile is by using someone else’s compost. Look for compost donations from neighbors or friends and make a small pile. You can also buy compost if you’d like. Make a small pile with your new compost and then you’re ready to start adding your own ingredients.

Adding Compost

Adding to the compost pile is simple. You’ll want to add twenty brown items for every green. The green items, such as fresh leaves, are wetter than dead, or brown, leaves. You’ll want to limit the amount of wet on your pile. Add a variety of items to your compost pile to avoid burying it with too many leaves and their carbon or making your compost too acidic with pine needles.

You can add both of those things in large amounts, but be sure your amounts are balanced. You can also add fresh manure from pets in the yard, but you would do well to let the manure age first as it may burn plants if used too soon as it is so rich while fresh. Go ahead and add household trash as well including shredded paper, eggshells, and food remains from plants, but not meats or fats.

Using Compost

Soon your compost pile will be a beautiful collection of leaves, pine needles, weeds, grass clippings, orange peels, old vegetables and more. Stir it once and a while to let it oxygenate, and then pull the richest compost from the bottom and middle to use on your garden and plants. Your plants will be thriving in no time.

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How to Weed a Flower Bed

When you spot unwanted plants appearing in your flowerbeds, you must take action to bring order back to your garden and keep your desired plants healthy. Weeding a garden is an ongoing process, but with careful treatment, the number of weeds you battle can be diminished over time.

Don Your Gloves

Before you weed a flowerbed, be sure you have well fitted gardening gloves. Many weeds have stickers or sharp leaves, and you’ll want your hands protected. While you’re donning your gloves, you may also want to grab a special kneeling pad to help keep your knees protected, too.

Weed From One End

Start at one end of your flower bed and comb through your plants looking for unwelcome growth. Pull weeds from the bottoms to remove the entire plant including the root. If you only break off the stem and leaves of a weed, the plant will simply continue to grow. Stubborn roots may require a trowel or small rake to loosen the soil before you’re able to remove the root system. As you finish a section, move along the flower bed from one end to the other to be sure you haven’t missed anything along the way.

Treat for Future Weeds

Once the weeds have been removed from the flowerbed, use a weed control product to help keep new weeds from growing. Treating for weeds and using chemicals on existing weeds can take time to work most effectively, but prevention efforts can pay off by completely removing all weeds in less than two years.

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How to Plant a Vegetable Garden

A backyard vegetable garden can satisfy your craving for fresh vegetables as well as sate your thirst for the feel of achievement as you grow your own food in the ways of our forefathers. Growing peppers, tomatoes and other vegetable in a backyard garden is simple enough if you are dedicated to establishing the garden and maintaining your plants carefully.

Till the Soil

Your first step to plant a vegetable garden is to find the proper patch of soil and remove all grass, rocks, and other obstacles. The ideal patch of ground should have at least six full hours of sunlight a day. The ground should be well drained with no chance of puddles after a rainstorm. You should also have good air circulation around the garden, but reduce the chances of strong wind that can break or dry out tender stalks.

Design the shape and size of the garden to suit your own preferences and abilities. Prepare the soil by breaking up chucks, adding compost and fertilizer, and removing debris before beginning. Consider surrounding your vegetable garden with a tall fence to keep out dogs, rabbits and other animals. The fence will also act as a trellis for tomatoes, beans or peas.

Plant the Vegetables

There are many options for what to plant in your vegetable garden, but the obvious choices will be vegetables enjoyed by your family. Water your garden thoroughly the day before you plant to give young plants the best shot at healthy development. Map out the locations of each plant in rows with tallest plants on the north side to avoid shade over small plants.

Plant each vegetable plant leaving space around it for future growth. Avoid overcrowding plants, and keep plants with similar growing seasons together. Plant bedding plants in holes slightly deeper than the plants had been growing in containers. Water before and after transplanting to ease the process.

Water, Weed, and Grow

As your vegetable garden grows, be sure to allow your plants at least one inch of water per week. You may have to give your garden extra water during dry spells. Mulch between rows to keep moisture in and to help eliminate weeds. Check your vegetable garden regularly to eliminate weeds and to spot pest problems. The earlier a problem is detected, the faster it can be dealt with. Enjoy your efforts!

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