Ken Thompson explains how to solve the most common compost problems
Composting is about the easiest recycling you will ever do. All green (or orange, yellow, purple or brown) garden and kitchen waste, including most tea bags and coffee grounds, can go straight on the compost heap. Even tough stuff like brassica stems can be added if they’re chopped or smashed up with a hammer or spade first.
When used as a mulch, homemade compost helps to suppress weeds, retain soil moisture in dry weather and protect soil from the damaging effects of heavy rain. Once incorporated into the soil (there is no need to dig it in, the worms will do that), it improves soil structure, helps to retain water and, as it breaks down, releases essential plant nutrients, such as nitrogen. But creating compost doesn’t always go to plan.
Making compost needs a mix of nitrogen-rich ‘greens’ and carbon-rich ‘browns’, but never forget it’s only a compost heap, not a soufflé. Compost animals and microorganisms need food (which comes from the heap itself), air and water, and many compost problems stem from too much moisture. Most kitchen and garden waste, especially piles of lawn clippings, tends to be wet and low on structure, which can lead to a heap that’s wet, airless and smelly. The solution is to add scrunched-up paper or card, such as egg boxes.
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Esta historia es de la edición April 2019 de Gardeners World.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
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We love June
We're cruising towards midsummer: this is a month full of love and abundance. Wherever you look there will be something in your garden that lifts the spirits and makes you glad to be alive. We have colour to cheer us, we have leaves that still have the bounce and freshness of small puppies, we have the first berries fattening up, there are birds frantically parenting very demanding broods of chicks, the bees are all over the place, it's prime barbecue and picnic season, and we have lawns as lush and green as billiard tables. What a month to fall in love.
Your wildlife month
The female will usually lay one clutch of up to eight eggs
An edible garden in pots
Join Lucy Bellamy in creating an edible container garden for all seasons, as she harvests what's ripe now and starts later-season crops
Garden craft with kids
Fill the summer holidays with fun nature makes for kids, including botanical printed t-shirts, seed sowing in upcycled food containers and a hanging home for beneficial insects. Jaime Johnson and family show you how
Secrets of a COLOURFUL GARDEN
Using a colour theme is an easy way to give any garden a strong, unified character - Nick Bailey shows you how
Indoor plants, outdoor treats
Break the rules and give your house plants a summer holiday, with Michael Perry's mixed pot display ideas
YOUR PRUNING MONTH
The first few weeks of summer are a good time to get spring-flowering plants in shape. Follow Frances' guide for best results
Gardening for wellbeing
As the pressures of modern living bear down, our outside spaces can provide soothing respite for our minds and bodies, says Arit Anderson
Your greenhouse guide to A fruitful summer
Get the best from your greenhouse fruit and vegetable crops this summer, with these tried and trusted growing tips from Adam Frost
Stars of the show
Agapanthus is the perfect midsummer plant, flowering with spectacular blooms from June onwards and, as Monty explains, it loves to grow in a pot