Spring and early summer composting tips
Spring is when the garden starts to wake up and is a busy time for gardeners to prepare the garden, for both blooming flowers and scrumptious fruit and vegetables.
All of the autumn and winter garden and kitchen waste will have started to rot down to produce important nutrients for the new plants, and to help produce stronger new shoots on your existing plants. Remember to keep adding to the compost bin to keep a constant flow of compost for the forth coming months.
Home Composting is a really easy and cost effective way to give your garden the essential nutrients it needs, as well as improving the soil structure.
Pretty pots
To make sure that your terrace or patio pots and tubs don’t let you down, try giving them a facelift by adding sieved compost. The lovely smooth look (of sieved finished compost) is far more ‘this season’ than the rough, ‘au naturel’ look of last year!
Lush lawns
In early March use a long-pronged metal rake to remove all the dead grass leftover from the colder months. Put the ‘thatch’ into your compost bin and then give your lawn a good feed with the compost that is ready. By the time friends and family are arriving for the first BBQs and garden parties of the summer, the grass will be lush and healthy.
Ghoulish gourds
Households that look forward to the ghostly antics of Hallowe'en can use their compost bins to help prepare for the spooky activities; a compost bin that is ready to spread on the garden but is surplus to requirements provides the perfect conditions to grow plump pumpkins, as well as squashes or marrows.
Place young plants into the well-rotted compost in April or May and they’ll be ready to be harvested for the 31st of October.
Pond power
After the dark and dreary winter months, the garden pond can look less than picturesque. A good clean is well worth the effort but inevitably results in a mass of slushy muck being removed. However, you should remember that this makes a great addition to a dry compost bin in need of a boost!
Shrub’bish
Spring is the time to prune the hardier members of the shrubbery; the dead and unwanted stems and leaves from roses and pampas grass make a great addition to the compost bin.
Bulb boost
As the floral summer displays take over from the daffodils and tulips, don’t forget that bulb greenery can be composted; just make sure that the bulbs have started to go brown indicating that all the available goodness has been absorbed.
Dust buster
The annual spring clean of the home produces bags full of vacuumed up dirt and dust, a perfect addition to your compost bin.
