Gardening
Compost yard waste into treasure
Keith Hansen Smith County Horticulturist

Whoever decided to call the autumn season "fall" must have been considering one of the most obvious signs of the end of summer - falling leaves.

Last week we covered different ways to deal with all those leaves, including just mowing them back into the turf, and collecting them and using them as a beneficial mulch around landscape and garden plants.

Another method of processing leaves I briefly touched on is to turn them into a rich soil amendment called compost.

Composting is a way of organizing, and, if needed, speeding up the natural process of decomposition whereby formally living plant matter is broken down into valuable organic matter.

Folks who compost typically fall into one of three categories: those who pile up leaves, clippings, wood chips, etc. and literally forget about it until perhaps years later; those who want/need it as fast as it can be produced; and those who will invest some leisure time and energy to produce compost for use in the garden.

There is no right or wrong way to compost - a pile of leaves, brush or wood chips will break down into unrecognizable organic matter in several years, while the same ingredients can be reduced to compost in several weeks or months by hot composting.

The end results will be similar - a great soil additive for better plant growth.

Fast and slow compost products are not identical. Fast composts generate a lot of heat that kills pathogens and many weed seeds.

Slow compost might be higher in nitrogen content, although it too can lose nutrients due to long exposure to weathering.

The qualities of any finished compost will also vary based on the original components.

Hot composting involves combining shredded raw ingredients in the proper proportion, starting with sufficient volume of materials, keeping the moisture content high, and frequent turning to regularly introduce air as the pile settles as it breaks down.

Whether you have a free standing, open pile, or contain it in some sort of structure is up to you. There are many commercial bins, and there are plans available for building your own two or three bin system.

Before adding compost materials, provide some sort of aeration for the bottom of the pile.

Place a stack of twigs and small branches, or an old wooden pallet, on the ground first.

Once the pile is created, the open bottom will allow air to enter the pile from below.

As heat is generated and moves upward, air will be drawn in through the bottom to help keep the pile aerated.

For best results, try to use a combination of materials that provide both carbon and nitrogen sources.

The abundant availability of leaves during the fall usually provides the backbone of most compost piles.

All types of leaves can be composted, including oak, pecan, hickory and walnut.

Brown leaves are high in carbon, as is straw, hay (watch for seeds), pine needles, twigs, newspaper, wood chips, and sawdust.

Nitrogen-rich materials include grass clippings, manure (no cat or dog droppings), green shrub/tree trimmings, fresh leaves, old bedding plants and kitchen scraps.

Grass clippings should be blended in with the high carbon ingredients to avoid matting and producing an anaerobic layer.

Spare yourself future trouble by not adding weeds that can become serious pests in your garden soil, especially those which sprout from roots, like Bermuda grass and nut sedge.

Also, do not add meat, grease or dairy products or your compost pile may be visited by rodents and other unwanted guests.

Coarse materials should be shredded or chopped to speed decomposition.

Add green and brown materials in roughly equal proportions.

As you add a four to sixinch layer of material, wet it thoroughly, and add a small amount of finished

compost or rich garden soil. Continue adding layers until your pile is a minimum of 3 by 3 by 3 feet. This size is needed for holding the heat generated by the decomposition process and prevents the pile for drying too quickly.

After the pile goes through a heating process, stir up the contents to reintroduce air and move the outer materials to the inside.

Wet tree leaves will tend to mat and not quickly break down, and turning will help break up these mats. If the pile contents have begun to dry, water as you stir the pile. Continue to stir and wet the pile every few weeks to keep the composting process working.

Finished compost can be used in many ways, including adding to flower and vegetable gardens when planting new plants, or as a component of potting soil.

Compost tea can be made and used to water potted plants and new garden transplants or as a foliar spray in the garden.

Compost can also be used as a mulch if you have sufficient quantity.

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Keith Hansen is Smith County Horticulturist with Texas Cooperative Extension. His web page is http://EastTexasGardening.ta mu.edu

SYMPTOM	PROBLEM SOLUTION
The compost has Not enough air, Turn it; add
a bad odor.	pile too wet. coarse, dry materials
	such as
	straw, corn stalk,
	etc.
The center of the Not	enough Turn and moisten
pile is dry.	water, too much materials; add
	woody, coarse fresh green
	material. wastes; chop or
	shred coarse
	wastes.
The compost is Pile is too small. Collect more
damp and warm	ingredients and
in the middle but	mix the old ingredients
nowhere else.	into a new
	pile.
The compost is Lack of nitrogen. Mix in nitrogen
damp and sweetsmelling s	ource like fresh
	but still grass clippings,
will not heat up.	manure or a
	small amount of
	nitrogen fertilizer.