Landscape Gardening

Gardening ideas are a great source of inspiration for your garden, and every year people try and make the most of their garden in different ways. The size of your garden and what you want from your garden will decide what sort of things you can do with it.

If you have a small garden, it might not be practical to have a lot of plants, or a shed or a lawn, or a play area for the children. You might agree to compromise with other members of the family, so that each family member can use the garden. You might be able to have your garden just the way you want it, possibly by scaling back some of your ideas, or not thinking on such a grand scale. You might just want to tidy your garden up, so that there’s somewhere to sit down outside during the summer.

Children will often want to get involved, and they should be encouraged to help you in the garden. Why not give them their own bit of garden or a couple of pots and some seeds, and see if they can grow something. By helping them with their own patch of garden, they will be able to see the differences between different sorts of plants, and understand the importance of looking after them.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to try growing fruit and vegetables in your garden. With a bit of preparation, you will be well on your way to growing plants you can eat. How good will the tomatoes, raspberries, potatoes, strawberries and whatever else you decide to grow taste?

Perhaps you’ve decided that your garden needs a redesign, or a makeover. It could be that you’ve recently moved, or only just got round to sorting the garden out. There are many things you can do with your garden, so why not look for some gardening ideas whilst you are out and about.

Your garden may have to serve a particular purpose. You might have to have a lawn for the children to play on, or a path between the garage and the house. You will have to make sure that your garden ideas and plans don’t get too ambitious, and that you can still use your garden practically.

You may decide that your garden is going to be functional, rather than full of plants and water features. You might choose a children’s area with a slide and a sandpit, or a large patio and decking area for barbeques. You might just want to be able to get to the washing line, or the shed.

Not everyone wants to spend hours in the garden, and some people are not willing to put in the effort to have an amazing looking garden. Some people just want a functional garden, or somewhere for the children to play in safety, whilst others will fill every space with a plant plot.

No matter what sort of garden you have, what size it is, or what you want from it, there are some amazing gardening ideas that will help transform your garden into exactly the sort of garden you want.

There are magazines for every topic under the sun now-a-days! So why not one for gardeners like you who wish to create a water garden of your own, or have already created one and wish to improve upon it? Some enterprising publishers have come out with several magazines for this purpose alone. The choice of the specific water gardening magazine you would like to purchase is left to you!

All local newstands may not stock this type of magazine. The person who deals in water gardening supplies can help out in this regard. He himself may be able to supply the magazine or give guidelines on how to go about getting one.

There are several benefits obtained in perusing a well-written water gardening magazine–

(1) The magazine caters to beginner and professional alike! Since it is a global publication, experts from across the globe come together to put forward their ideas and share their experiences regarding water gardens.

(2) A water gardening magazine gives step-by-step guidance regarding the setting up of a water garden. So you can take both the bouquets and the brickbats yourself!

(3) If you are unsure about trying out a container garden or excavating a pond, look to the magazine for help.

(4) If you already have some experience with water gardens, you will be glad to read about current developments in water horticulture related to plants, ponds, containers, and other accessories.

(5) An additional delight is pictures of water gardens plastered all over a water gardening magazine! These photographs come from expert water gardeners across the globe. So you can get a good idea about how they have used plants, stone, brickwork, water, other accessories and natural backgrounds to the best advantage, creating magnificent visual vistas! Not only do these gardens bring the owners a sense of pleasure, but they are also good enough to win prizes!

(6) All gardens have to contend with pests and diseases. A water gardening magazine offers solutions for these problems too. Even new discoveries related to protecting plants from diseases are displayed here.

(7) Weeds and birds can also attack a water garden. There may be a water gardener who has found a method to prevent birds such as herons from preying upon the fish in his/her water garden. There may be another expert who has discovered how best to get rid of algae. These snippets of information are published in a water gardening magazine.

(8) And if you already have quite a bit of experience with water gardens, why not share it with others? Say, you are good at creating a cascade. Place the information in a letter and send it to the editor of your water gardening magazine. As a matter of fact, if you are comfortable with the written word, you could go one step ahead and write a full-length article about cascades and accompany it with great photographs! If you do not want to write anything, just submit a picture of what you have created in your water garden. Fellow gardeners will thank you for it!

Gardening is a very rewarding activity. You can acquire a fitter physical and mental self with hours spent engaged in gardening activities, enjoying the sight of your full-grown garden and spending time in it with family and friends. The best thing is that you can actually start a garden on your own without the help of professional landscapers and gardeners. Here are the easy steps to do so.

Set Your Garden Goals

There are many types of gardens to choose from. You have vegetable gardens, herb gardens, fruit gardens, ornamental plant gardens and flower gardens, to name a few. Well, of course, you can mix and match plants to achieve a composite type of garden. You have to be realistic about your gardening goals, too. Thus, you need to plan in advance the types of plants, their layout and the care necessary for each one.

Select Your Site

Along with setting your goals, you have to consider the site your garden will be. Keep in mind that your choice of a garden will affect your site. Thus, if it is an herb garden, you must choose the sunniest site while a flower garden requires some places to be shady. You also need to look at the site drainage, the availability of the water supply, the amount of sun received, and even the view from the house. If you are going for container gardening, then looking for good windowsills and appropriate containers is necessary.

Lay Out the Beds

You should then mark out the borders of your garden in accordance with your initial plans. You may use the garden hose or a length of string as well as garden stakes to do so. Measuring the shapes and sizes of your garden beds allow for a more informed decision of the number of seeds and plants that you will have to purchase later on. Plus, it will provide the opportunity to clear out certain areas for planting.

Of course, laying out the beds also means that you have to amend the soil, which is best done through the addition of compost to the soil. You may also have your soil tested just so you can determine exactly how much compost and/or fertilizer you will need to make your soil a good one.

Select the Plants

Now, look into your plans before purchasing the plants. You want to avoid impulse buying especially when you are on a limited budget, a limited space and a limited time for gardening. When choosing from the plants, you have to inspect them for unwanted insects, diseases and other issues that can affect its transplantation. Plus, it will not do for an infected plant to adversely affect your healthier plants, thus, possibly rendering your first efforts at a garden as a disaster – a learning disaster but a disaster, nonetheless.

Plant the Plants

The final step in starting your own first garden is, of course, to plant the plants and/or seedlings into the prepared beds. The most important tips are to keep your plants as moist as possible, plant them in sufficient holes and place organic mulch at the topsoil.

Now, all it takes is to build on the gains of your first planting efforts by taking good care of your plants.

A raised bed garden might be a good idea if you have poor soil, very heavy clay soil or find gardening difficult due to a physical problem. Although it will take more time to construct a raised bed, or initially cost more if you opt to buy a raised garden kit, it will more than pay for itself in the long term. A raised bed has some distinct advantages over regular gardening and can make your gardening much easier, more fun and more productive. They are also very attractive and kits can be purchased in water-resistant cedar for a very long life.

Some Advantages of Raised Gardening

• In a raised garden you have full control over the soil conditions so you can grow plants that need specific pH’s and nutrients easily.
• The soil can be purchased free from weeds and stones so you won’t have to spend time weeding.
• Plants in a raised garden are easier to maintain and usually grow better. The soil does not become compacted from people walking on it so air and nutrients can reach the roots much easier.Raised gardens warm up more quickly in the Spring so you can sow or plant much earlier giving you a longer growing season.
• It is much easier to cultivate a raised garden than a regular garden as you can make the garden at a convenient height. For those with physical problems or in a wheelchair this can often be the only way they can enjoy gardening.
• Raised gardens are much kinder to backs and knees! You won’t strain your back or hurt your knees from kneeling down to garden.
• In a properly prepared raised garden drainage is much better than in a regular garden. You won’t have waterlogged soil and the plants will grow better.

Siting Your Raised Garden

Before you decide where to place your garden observe your backyard for at least a full day to see which areas receive more sunlight or which are in the shade. Are you going to grow sun loving plants or those which prefer shade? Find an area where you can have space all around the garden to make cultivation easier. It is also a good idea to have pathways or gravel around the garden to make moving around it with wheelbarrow etc easier. If you are installing one for a person in a wheelchair you must make sure access is easy from all sides and it is the correct height.

Filling Your Raised Garden

After the garden is installed fill it with good quality soil and compost. A mix of half soil and half compost is usually recommended. Top soil is usually available to buy in bulk but be careful of the quality as there are no standards set down. Top soil can vary a great deal in composition. Garden centers also supply soil in bulk and you can be sure that it is good quality. You could use soil from your garden but you will need quite a large amount and the soil may not contain all the nutrients required. It will also inevitably have weed seeds and stones.

For economy you may want to mix garden soil with purchased soil but make sure you mix it thoroughly and preferably have a soil test to ensure the pH and nutrient levels are acceptable. Whichever option you choose mix in a small amount of sand as an aid to drainage. You will also need to top up the soil occasionally as it compacts down and add some organic matter regularly. A good tip is to grow some ground cover plants during the winter for protection which can then be dug in in the Spring to add some nutrients.

Conclusion

Raised gardens are ideal for those of us who are physically challenged but they are also perfect for every gardener as they are attractive, easy to maintain and provide optimum growing conditions for our plants. They can be easy to install if you choose to use a raised garden kit and will last for many years of trouble free gardening.

It is not very hard to find gardening products these days as gardening has become a very popular activity. The gardening products can be bought either from nurseries or stores, or they can even be ordered online. Gardening products these days carry from gardening equipments to the actual plant itself.

Irrespective of what we are planting, we would require the basic gardening products. Water supplies can be provided either by a sprinkler or a water hose. Other than the above mentioned products, gardening products consists of pot (if we are pot planting), arake, sectures, good pair of gloves and spade. Potting soil are the other important products which a gardener should purchase when he starts a garden to get his dirt ready. The various plotting soil which are available are organic potting soil, cactus potting soil, seed starting plotting soil and root development plotting soil.

In order to maintain a very healthy plant life it is necessary for a gardener to purchase gardening products which will help him to add nutrients to his soil. The most famous growing enhancer for plants is a product called Miracle-Gro. This Miracle-Gro comes in various types and your user’s choice depends on the type of plants he is trying to grow in his garden. Fertilizers such as triple 13 or 10-20-10 are available which can be used for the fertilization of your soil.

The products which we use fro flower gardening cannot be used for growing herbs or vegetables, these require different products. Tomato gardens need ties and tomato cage to protect them from heavy winds. Growing vines require trellis or fence of some sort as they grow that way.

Gardening products apart from enabling us to maintain our gardens better can also be used for decoration purposes. The various gardening products which can be used as decoratives are sundials, stones or bricks which can be used for pathways , flower pots and lawn furniture?s personal touch can be given to the garden by making use of these decoratives, that way your garden can be made to look attractive.

During the winter months there will be lots of new gardening products to choose from. It is completely necessary for a gardener to put his/her plants in a greenhouse. Greenhouse can be alternated with some sort of trap which can be used to cover your plants. The much need warmth and extra light can be provided to your pants by using a heat lamp or some other type of light source.

Gardening products are always upgraded and these upgraded and new products pop up in the market from time to time. Most of the gardening products, even though are not necessary, they make our gardening chores much easier and our gardening experience most enjoyable.

A raised bed garden can be used for yards that have poor soil and drainage problems. The idea of a raised bed is to build above ground, where you don’t have to battle against poor soil and bad drainage. You also have total control over the soil texture, contents and drainage.

What is a Raised Bed Garden?

A raised bed garden is a garden that is above ground and contained in an area with high sides. The gardener walks between the beds and it is a very organized way to garden. It can be any depth you choose and can be used for virtually anything you wish to plant. Herbs grown in raised beds have an advantage over in the ground growing for a few reasons.

How to Make a Raised Bed Garden

The most popular raised bed is the ‘contained raised garden bed’. They offer great growing condition for many vegetable and herb gardens, as well as for flower gardens. Also, many fruits such as strawberries, grapes and raspberries do well in raised garden beds.

Since most raised beds are constructed from wood we have created steps for a wooden raised bed.

Step One

Selecting a site is one of the most important decisions you will make when creating a raised bed garden. Make sure to pick an area that will get full sun since most vegetables need full sun. If you want to plant vegetables that need partial sun either create another bed in a different location or find a location that will receive both full and partial sun. Also make sure the area is flat so it will make it easy to water and all areas will receive a constant and equal amount of water. If you want to make watering easy try installing a drip irrigation system that will be easy to use and keep your garden perfectly watered.

Step Two

Decide the size and shape of your garden. Make sure you will be able to access all part of your garden without stepping into the bed. Try keeping the garden long and narrow which will allow you to access all your vegetables without actually stepping on the garden. This is good because your soil will not become compact from stepping all over it. This will give you carrots that will grow and grow as straight as an arrow. Remember accessibility is key and if you decide to put your garden up against a fence try making it only 3 feet wide so you don’t have to step on the garden. The depth of the raised bed garden is up to you but the deeper the better, especially if you will be growing carrots or parsnips that need deeper soil. If you can try making your bed 12 inches deep!

Step Three

The prepping of your site is very important. Once you have the shape and size of your garden you will begin building the bed. It’s a good idea to dig out the existing sod and loosen the soil below to a depth of eight to twelve inches. This will give your garden extra depth and good drainage. If you want to move fast just cover the existing sod and soil with newspaper or cardboard.

Step Four

Now it’s time to construct the bed. Use a lumber that is rot-resistant such as cedar or one of the newer composite woods to construct your bed. Depending on the size of the garden by ‘two by six’ pieces of wood that will be able to build the entire garden. Cut your pieces to the desired length, then attach them together to make a simple frame. They are many different ways to attach the wood but select one that is easy for you and will be able to hold up well for years of use.

Step Five

After constructing the frame in a location you desire make sure to level your bed from all directions. This is a necessary step because if your bed is not level, you will have a situation where water runs off of one part of the garden and sits in another. If part of your frame is high, just remove some of the soil beneath it until you have a level frame.

Step Six

After leveling it is time to fill your garden with soil and compost. This will allow you to create a garden with great soil that is ideal for the vegetables you choose to grow. Once they’re filled and raked level, you’re ready to plant or sow seeds.

Maintaining a Raised Bed Garden

Happily, raised bed gardens require very little maintenance. Each spring or fall, it’s a good idea to top dress with fresh compost and manure, or, if your bed only holds plants for part of the year, go ahead and dig the compost or manure into the top several inches of soil. As with any garden, mulching the top of the soil will help retain moisture and keep weeds down. Moisture retention is important, because raised beds tend to drain faster than conventional beds.

Find quality vegetable seeds at Urban Farmer Seeds.

What kind of herb garden design is right for you? After you’ve decided that you’d like your own herb garden and you’ve selected the space you’d like to use for it, which design style would most appeal to you and make the best use of your chosen spot?

There are many ways to plan and design your herb garden. You could have a formal or casual style, add raised beds, or include some sort of living wall, fence, or hedge to give your spot a little more privacy and protection from the wind. You could group plants by color, in geometric patterns, curves or shapes. For easy access, you might also want to add a walking path, or add some simple or ornate stepping stones. These stones or pavers can be bought already made in a variety of colors, shapes, styles, and price ranges, or they can be easily made by purchasing a stepping stone kit or a plastic mold at your local home and garden store. Most stepping stones and stepping stone kits are around $20-$30. With a reusable plastic mold, you can mix your own concrete, add color to the mix, and make as many stepping stones as you’d like and personalize them any way you wish. If your garden plan will include a few stepping stones, the do it yourself method will most likely be the lower cost option than pre-made stones, not to mention you can have fun making them yourself or with your loved ones.

While you may choose to have a small all purpose herb garden or a few specialized mini gardens, a neat way to add some design elements to your garden is to choose a theme. Themed gardens are a wonderful way for the novice as well as the proficient gardener to add some panache to the garden but also to focus and streamline the sometimes overwhelming choices that a gardener must make. Ideas for garden themes are endless. Some ideas to spur your creativity are described below.

You might want to choose to create an herb garden design based on a country kitchen theme to later utilize the herbs in your culinary pursuits. This not only adds visual appeal to your backyard, patio, or chosen garden site, but is also a practical way to have fresh herbs nearby anytime you cook, ready to add flavor to your recipes.

If you dream of walking by your own garden and breathing in the earthy scents, creating an aromatherapy herb garden might appeal to you. Plants such as lemon verbena, jasmine, and lavender can offer up a pleasing bouquet of fragrance. These plants could later be harvested to create aromatherapy scented oils and other crafts.

Another garden theme idea that will influence your herb garden design is creating a Chinese medicinal herb garden. Some plants to consider are ginseng and tea chrysanthemum. A few varieties of bamboo plants can also be used for medicinal purposes and add a nice visual component to the garden. Adding appropriate garden art, statues, and benches can unify your theme.

If you’re a tea lover, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have your own tea herb garden? Plants such as chamomile, peppermint and spearmint, calendula, and cinnamon basil are just some of the herbs you could enjoy fresh from your very own herb garden to make a fine cup of tea.

Many desire a quiet place of contemplation, meditation, or spiritual significance in their garden. You don’t need a big space to create such a sanctuary. An herbal garden is a great way to produce your desired atmosphere. For a spiritual retreat, some have chosen to select plants referenced in the Bible or other significant sources, or simply plants that represented an idea or thought that would be healing, therapeutic, peaceful or sacred.

Whichever herb garden design style you finally choose, the result can be an enchanting place you can take pleasure in, not only due to the harvest it produces but also because of the rewards it provides in the process of cultivating it.

Concerned about what is in your food?  Read the labels and see all the additives that are in just a can of peaches, greenbeans, or even something as basic as spinach.  Even worse are the additives they don’t tell you about. . .pesticides, growth hormones, even insect resistant hormones.  But there is another problem recently being discussed; that is nutrient depletion.

Plants grown in the same area repeatedly begin to deplete the area of vital nutrients, not only for the plant but for the consumer as well.  What is the solution to the problem?  Home gardening. 

A kitchen garden doesn’t have to be a large garden.  Kitchen gardens have been around for hundreds of years.  These little gardens can be laid out in various places across the lawn.  A small area walled off by spinach on the outside with peas growing in the middle makes an attractive corner.  In another corner could be a yummy blueberry bush with small heads of lettuce in a roll in front.  Edging this little corner could be any number of herbs or edible flowers.  With a little planning anyone can have a nice kitchen garden to enjoy year round.  You can also store much of your harvest by canning, freezing, or drying. (More of that to come.)

The kitchen garden can hold its own against any picturesque landscape.  It competes easily with a lush front lawn or even a flower garden.  Many kitchen plants have beautiful flowers and foliage of their own. The kitchen garden doesn’t have to be planted way off in the back.  After all who wants to go on a hike just to get a little spice for supper?  The kitchen garden needs to be close to the kitchen.  Easy access makes the garden more appealing.  The look of the garden itself is already attractive.  Even a deck can be a perfect place for a small garden.  Large containers and potting boxes supply just the area needed for the vegetables and herbs.

What do you plant in a kitchen garden?  What ever you use in your kitchen.  From spices to vegetables to little garnishes all these can be planted in your garden.  Many of these wonderful goodies also come with their own home remedies to common ailments.  Just think, a medicine cabinet in your own garden!

The most valuable tool at this stage is the mighty pen (and of course paper goes with it!)  Begin writing down what you want in your garden.  What do you like to eat?  What would are your needs and preferences?  Consider vegetables, flowers, fruits or berries, and herbs.  Write these down.

Now assess what you have.  Look at your lawn.  Is it begging for attention?  Does it need some landscaping?  Change the scenery with your kitchen garden.  Do you have a sunny garden spot? (Use your imagination.)  Is there a shady place in a corner?  Divide the garden up.  It doesn’t have to be one large plot.  Consider your patio.  Large containers and garden boxes make a great patio garden.  Examine your time, space and needs.  Budget your garden to fit your life style as well as your pocket book.

Climate and season are also important.  Not every plant grows well in every climate, but don’t limit yourself to just one season either.  Climates can vary even in your backyard.  One area that gets plenty of direct sunlight for several hours a day would be different in climate to the area that is constantly in the shade.  Different plants can be grown in each of these areas.  If you have a small garden pond the humidity there will be greater than an area away from the pond.

Don’t try to hide your garden.  Let these miniature ecosystems take on personalities of their own.  They can enhance the rest of your landscape and develop a continuing theme, or each garden can become its own section, like verses in a song.  The herb garden can be separate from the salad garden.  A floral garden can be in another area.  Use your imagination and let the landscape come alive.

Section off your areas with hedges or small fences.  In the past these kitchen gardens were often enclosed to separate them from the surrounding world.  Let that idea create a smart well dressed look to your garden. 

Summarizing it up: 

1.  Decide where to put your garden (keep it close to the kitchen) 

2.  Decide what to plant. 

3.  Know your climate and the needs of the plant. 

4.  Prepare your ground for planting.

The amazing diversification themes with the windowsill or window-box gardening is limited only by your imagination. Without exaggerating, you can have cucumbers, basil, lemon verbena, curry plant, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, onions all of them in a single apartment windowsill. You can put all your talent, skill and handicraft in designing the “Windowsill Home Herb Garden” in a 30 storey building with a small and narrow neglected unused space. Windowsill herb gardens are fun to create, not too expensive and extremely useful in the kitchen for the freshness and aromas they bring about, through out the year. There is a pretty long list of herbs that can grow in the pots and usually do not require too much attention other than sun,soil and water. The herbs do not need soil heavily loaded with fertilizers as the herbs tend to lose the natural aroma from excess fertilizing. Liquid fertilizer or organic compost is best for home grown herbs since the chemicals are negligible in such natural fertilizers. You can also put your creativity in use by implementing Lasagna gardening for an immaculate soil-less gardening.

Basics of Windowsill Gardening

The numerous herbs that grow successfully in a windowsill environment can be purchased from local nurseries or garden stores. You can either use a cutting or the seeds of the plants for propagation. Some of the most popular and easily grown herbs are basil, chives, mint, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, thyme, sage, marjoram and parsley. Generally, chives and mint are easier to grow and good choices for those novice gardeners who are just putting their hands into gardening for first time. Chives can be used in salads or vegetables. Mint has an extraordinary strong aroma and can be used in soups, salads, and beverages. Basil is one of the main ingredients in pesto a green Italian oil-and-herb sauce. The leaves of coriander or cilantro are used in chutneys, sauces, curries and soups. Rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, basil, and marjoram are all wonderful culinary herbs used for seasoning and garnishing meat, sauce and vegetarian recipes.

Soil-less Windowsill Gardening

You can use a soil-less potting mix for propagating the herbs for your windowsill garden. Place the herbs in a clay, wood or plastic container using a soil-less potting mix. Soil-less mediums contain natural minerals and are good for drainage. They are also free from any soil-borne disease. Leave at least two inches of space at the top of the container for watering. Herbs do not need too much of water hence water only to make the potting-mix moist. Lasagna Gardens for Windowsill are the latest craze in organic herb gardening and very easy to implement if you are fed up of digging and tilling the earth. It is a very popular form of gardening and you can use it for a herb garden too. The idea behind Lasagna gardening is layering. The main theme of the Lasagna gardening is creation of layers with organic compost and absolutely no weeds to worry about. Select a sunny location. The sunniest spot in your window-sill is the best place for Lasagna gardening. Start the layer with a very wet newspaper, top it with peat moss and cover it with a thick layer of organic compost which can be home grown or brought from garden store. Repeat the process with alternate layers of newspaper, peat moss, and organic compost until your lasagna garden is as thick as you want it to be. Put water in the Lasagna garden until it has the consistency of a wet sponge. After that, all you require to do is plant your herbs and mulch. Continue mulching your garden.

What is Mulch?

Mulch is a protective covering usually of organic matter such as leaves, manure, straw or peat, placed around plants to fix the roots firmly, prevent the evaporation of moisture and inhibit growth of weeds. Common types of mulch used in Lasagna gardening are grass clippings, chopped up corncobs, sawdust, wood ash, seaweed or kelp. Vegetables like asparagus, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, garlic, lettuce and potatoes grow very well in such gardens. With a little creativity, you can try anything with Lasagna gardening; even oregano, basil and other herbs.

Gardening is not about the expanse and the range of varieties of plants cultivated but is about the love for greenery, beauty, attention to details and appreciation of the herbs that can grow in the limited space of your balcony, patio or perch. Imagine if the entire stretch of the overgrown urban space would be covered with window-sill gardens, the world would indeed be a much better place to dwell in. We can still transform the world, one windowsill at a time …

To the making of composts there is no end.

Where it is possible to make compost, this is the best material of all for the gardener to use. All kinds of green material and garden waste can be incorporated in the heap including annual weeds. Grass Mowings, Hedge Trimmings, Pea, Tomato and Bean haulm, old flower stems and so on.

If a proportion of manure can be obtained, this also should be included in the heap, though it is not absolutely essential. Poultry manure, if included, should not exceed 20 per cent in bulk and should be applied in layers not more than an inch thick. A thick layer of poultry manure will prevent air from circulating and retard the break-down of the heap. It is often possible to obtain industrial or semi-industrial organic waste (waste from eating establishments and hotels) that, if incorporated in reasonable proportions, can be of great value.

Seaweed is probably the most valuable of all, and other materials which I have used include water-weed from rivers and canals, decayed sawdust from the old sawmills and waste coffee, cocoa residues from various industrial processes, also we have used hemp not the type that some people smoke, (if you tried to smoke this type you would have to roll a joint the size of a telegraph pole to get any sort of buzz) we only use the type for making rope.

Fresh fallen leaves have a delaying effect on the break-down of the heap and it is better, therefore, to allow them to rot by themselves for a year or two and then to incorporate them in the compost heap. I find that the Garden Compost Heap should not exceed four feet square and about three feet high, but they can be made of any desired size.

If the Compost Heap is made to wide or to high, there will be a lack of air and the majority of the necessary bacteria will not multiply. The Garden Compost Heap should be built on soil rather than on a concrete base or on gravel. If it is built on grassland, it is better to dig out the top 4 inches of the grass. In any case, there should be a loose layer of hard, woody material to assist aeration.

Baled Straw is the best material to use for the walls; it provides a neat, convenient method of making the heap and enables the compost to decompose fully right up to the walls and assists the retention of the heat of decomposition. After the bales have been used two or three times and have started to disintegrate, the Straw Bale can itself be incorporated in the next heap. Many Garden Compost Heaps, however, are made without any retaining walls at all.

Quicker results and more even decomposition will be obtained if the raw materials are mixed and shredded before being put on to the heap and there are several shredding machines on the market which are very efficient. Where no shredder is available, dry materials should be mixed with fresh green matter in alternate layers. Straw Bales of any description should be thoroughly wetted. The layers should not exceed 6 inches in thickness and should be a good deal less in the case of Grass Mowings and any other material that will form a mass which the air cannot penetrate.

A light sprinkling of topsoil or good de-composted compost should be added at every twelve inches of height to introduce bacteria into the heap. A sprinkling of lime dust in the form of crushed chalk at a rate of one ounce to every two square yards may also be added along with the topsoil.

Layers of Well Rotted Farmyard Manure in the Garden Compost Heap will act as an activator, but whether there is Manure in the heap or not, I always use an activator usually herbal based as I find this speeds up decomposition. The final covering of the Garden Compost Heap can either be an inch or two of topsoil or a rough thatch of straw, slopped to carry off the rain. In large Garden Compost Heaps, vertical air holes are necessary. They should be spaced at 3 feet intervals down the centre of the Garden Compost Heap.

If the heap seems to be drying out, the outside should be wetted. Try to wet evenly and avoid saturation. There may be a certain amount of leaching from the bottom of the Garden Compost Heap if no retaining wall is used. In such a case it is well to spread a thin layer of sawdust, peat or other absorbent organic matter round the base of the Garden Compost Heap. This material can be incorporated into the next Garden Compost Heap that is made and will add to the value of the finished compost.

The process of decomposition will be greatly accelerated by turning the Garden Compost Heap once every 3 to 4 weeks after building. If so desired the Garden Compost Heap can be treated again with an activator during the turning process but this is not essential. Garden Compost Heaps made chiefly of fresh green material will often break down quite successfully without any turning at all but where the material is very dry and made from straw one turn is practically essential.

It is most important that the high temperature at the centre of the Garden Compost Heap should be obtained, otherwise annual weed seeds may survive and be reintroduced all over the garden. It is advisable to purchase a soil thermometer and make sure that the Garden Compost Heap reaches a temperature of no less than 40 degrees Celsius. If the Garden Compost Heap does not heat up, the reason is probably that it has been built to slowly.

The remedy is to turn it and add fresh green material; also adding chicken dung pellets will help. There is no objection to incorporating diseased vegetable matter in the well-made Garden Compost Heap that heats up properly. In fact, there is considerable evidence to prove that such a Garden Compost Heap becomes a breeding-ground for bacteria that will fight the disease, and that the resulting Garden Compost Heap, when applied to the soil, will give resistance to, if not immunity from, the disease concerned.

This seems to be particularly true in the case of Tomatoes, and many gardeners insist that the compost that they use for their Tomato crops should contain as large a proportion as possible of old Tomato haulm. Garden Compost-Making is an art that has to be acquired. It is, however, not a difficult art and any Gardener with a reasonable amount of common sense can quickly learn it.

It is also, quite frankly, something which we know more about now than lets say 100 years ago mainly because of the advancements in modern scientific research. What I do think is that some gardeners make much to heavy weather of Garden Compost-Making. It need not be anything like the laborious a job as many people think, providing the Garden Compost Heap is sited in the right place as to avoid unnecessary transport of materials.