Composting and preparing your land for winter

Composting and Preparing Your Land for Winter

There's a reason why compost is known as 'grower's gold', it's the most valuable thing that you can have in your garden.

The process of composting means that everything you have grown can return to the earth and bring new life for the next season.

Why Use Compost?

When it comes to soft fruit, the freezer is your friend. Except for strawberries, most varieties of soft fruit freeze really well and can then be used out of season.

Some varieties of tomatoes, particularly those that make good sauces, are also great for freezing. Don't be afraid to freeze your produce. It doesn't reduce the quality at all and is an excellent way to manage any gluts you might have.

What to Put on Your Compost?

One of the easiest ways to build up your compost heap is to apply everything in layers. The simplest way to do this is to separate your garden waste into greens and browns. The 'greens' are things like grass clippings, leaves and food waste from your kitchen, while the 'browns' are carbon materials, like sticks, twigs and cardboard.

All non-flowering weeds and all trimmings from your vegetable patch can go onto your compost heap. But make sure to leave out any perennial weeds, such as docks, couch grass and bindweed, as these plants can spread from just the tiniest bit of root and will then invade your whole garden.

You should also avoid putting larger twigs on your compost as they won't break down. If you're adding food waste to your heap, then make sure to avoid adding meat, as this will attract vermin.

Building Up Your Compost

As you add more layers to your compost, all manner of lifeforms will move in to aid the composting process. Your green waste will rot down and attract slugs, which will help it to break down further.

This is why you should never poison the slugs in your garden, as they are essential in creating healthy compost.

Keep adding layers throughout the summer months and every few weeks turn the layers with a fork in order to aerate your mixture. This process offers you a good opportunity to check your compost. What you are looking for are signs that decomposition is taking place and that there are lots of red worms throughout the mix.

During the height of the summer, you may need to add water to your heap to stop it drying out. You can do this by adding grass cuttings, which have a high water content, and if necessary, by watering your heap too.

Compost shouldn't be smelly. If it is, it means your compost isn't getting enough air and you need to aerate it more.

Applying Your Compost

While your vegetable beds will need a good layer of compost in the winter months, your flower beds don't like a lot of fertility. They will, however, need a thin dressing in order to give them a boost for next year's growing season.

Apply a thin layer around any perennial plants in autumn and this will rot down and feed your bed.