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Flower Soil

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Regardless of where you live, your flower soil can be brought up to a standard that will provide the best possible bed for your garden. One of the things that you can do to keep your soil alive and well is create a compost pile. Compost is one of the essential ingredients of a healthy garden, and starting your own compost pile ensures a free, regular supply.

Not only is composting good for your garden, it is good for the environment. You can start a compost pile any time but the fall is great because you have all those lovely leaves. Compost does not have to smell bad and it does not have to look bad. It does not have to be rocket science either. My neighbor tossed her vegetable peeling directly on top of her garden and leaves it at that.

Compost increases moisture retention, invigorates the soil, and adds plant nutrients. Compost also contains substances that gives plants the ability to fight off insects and diseases. Flower soil benefits from composting. So if you want to give it a try, here are some guidelines.

• Get a dark green or black compost container so it blends into the background.
• Cover the bottom of the compost bin with coarse organic material such as very small branches.
• Start adding composting materials, such as garden debris, leaves and kitchen wastes as they become available.
• Keep your compost moist but don't drown it. If it gets not soggy, it will start to rot and smell.
• Keep it aerated. If you don't, it will start send of methane gas and that really smells bad. You can aerate it by turning it over with a pitchfork once in a while. Make sure there are breathing holes in the bin.
• Keep your compost healthy by adding a balance of compostables. These are usually described as brown and green compostables. Green are things like vegetable peeling and grass cuttings. Brown are things like dead leaves and paper. Aim for a little more brown than green. Brown compostables are dryer.
• Good compost ingredients include herbicide free plant material, kitchen produce waste (vegetable trimmings, coffee and tea grounds, egg shells, etc.) and manure from vegetarian animals, such as horses and goats.
• Bad compost ingredients include meat, manure from omnivorous or carnivorous animals (like dogs and cats), fatty, sugary or salty foods, clippings or debris from herbicide treated plants, or sawdust from treated wood.