12/31/2023 0 Comments Don t trash itComposting is a set of practices that speed the decomposition process. You can’t stop this process, but you can take steps to make the process go faster and create a soil conditioner you can use anywhere you want it. Instead, remember that if you simply leave these materials where they fall, they will decompose and return to the soil. Don’t be put off by elaborate recipes for building compost piles, or recommendations about carbon-to-nitrogen ratios that you have no way to measure anyway. A one-to-three-inch layer of compost around annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees, or over entire planting beds, is an excellent, nutrient-rich soil conditioner. This mulch will slowly decompose to enrich the soil, reduce weed growth, help retain moisture, and insulate against temperature swings.Īnother option is to compost lawn and garden materials, and this can be easier than you think. If you have enough material, cover entire beds with a layer but keep the material a couple of inches away from tree and shrub trunks to avoid promoting disease. Then spread the chopped material in a two-to-three-inch layer around perennials and woody shrubs, or a three-to-six-inch layer around trees, especially new plantings. If there are too many leaves for this, just rake or sweep them into a pile and chop them with your rotary lawnmower. A light layer of leaves, tassels, or normal length grass cuttings can be mowed and left in place to enrich the soil as they slowly decay. The easiest option is to use lawn and garden materials as mulch. Since 20 – 30 percent of landfill waste consists of lawn and garden materials, you reduce the burden on the landfill by collecting and using these materials to create a valuable soil conditioner that benefits your plants. What do you do with it all? You have two choices: trash them or use them. Prunings, dead perennial tops, and leaves have collected through fall and winter and spring will bring leaves from live oaks and tassels from oak and pecan trees. Spring garden cleanup time is approaching.
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