Be careful which composts you choose to buy.Some plants are acid or alkaline tolerant eg you would buy ericaceous for hydrangea, camellia, azalea.Local authorities sell compost made from garden waste collection and you can get quite a lot of other rubbish in the mix.Mushroom compost is frequently sold. Wonderful stuff for general mulching, particularly on clay but a disaster for acid loving plants.Don’t go buying plastic bins for making compost. Repurpose wooden pallets to make your own bins. Often discarded in the street but many places/shops if asked will let you have them for free to take away. A piece of old carpet on top keeps the pile warm and damp.Put all vegetation into the pile except anything cooked. Green warms up as it breaks down and old leaves from beech, oak give fabulous texture. Don’t put plane tree leaves or magnolia. These are tough and take forever to break down.Never any meat, bread, etc. as this will attract rats and then you will have to get a Jack Russell to deal with them! Compost is wonderful for conditioning the soil but does not feed it. You will need to supplement. With vegetables, liquid seaweed or tomato food is good. For general gardening, invest in a bag of 6X. Not cheap from Amazon but use it sparingly. Alternative is called Dug.One of the best books I ever bought was a Reader’s Digest called Food from your Garden. You can find it secondhand at Abe Books. It is a very well explained guide particularly if you are new to such gardening. I hope you enjoy the fruits of your labour and the satisfaction that comes with it.
Elizabeth Ross ● 2411d