GreenWorks - Ideas for a Cleaner Environment

This fall, instead of bagging leaves and putting them out on the curb or hauling them away, why not try composting? Composting is a natural process of decomposition of organic material into a rich soil amendment. Starting to compost is a great way to take advantage of a valuable resource falling right in your yard while creating a healthier lawn and garden.

One of the greatest benefits of composting is the finished compost! It can save you money, by reducing the amount of water and fertilizer your garden or lawn needs to stay healthy and by providing a mulch at no cost. Compost adds organic matter and nutrients to your soil, reduces soil erosion and promotes healthy root development in plants and trees. When mixed with compost, clay soils are lightened, and sandy soils retain water better. It can be used as a mulch or top dressing, or it can be incorporated into your soil for gardens, lawns or tree plantings. For established lawns and gardens, spread about 2" of compost over your entire garden annually and work into the soil. For the beginning lawn or garden, there is no substitute for tilling in 3" of compost 9" deep. You should see the difference the very first year-with less watering and greener grass.

Composting in your backyard is easy. Your compost pile can be as simple as a heap of materials in a corner of your yard, or a bin to localize the pile and help maximize the composting process. Composting systems or bins can be constructed at home or purchased commercially at local hardware and garden supply stores or through community-based compost bin sales. A bin or pile of compost material four feet wide by four feet high by at least four feet long works well for getting started. Homemade bins can be made from chicken wire, snow fencing, cinder blocks, old wooden pallets, or other material with holes in the sides to allow air for the composting organisms to breath.

Composting can take anywhere from a few months to more than a year depending upon the organic materials that you add and the conditions present. It can take place with little time or effort. But the composting process can also be hastened by: chopping or shredding organic materials; mixing about one-third high-nitrogen materials (grass clippings, green plant material, manures or food wastes) with about two-thirds high-carbon materials (leaves, wood chips, shavings, straw or hay); and maintaining proper moisture (keep your pile as damp as a wrung-out sponge). You can turn the pile to provide aeration by moving the outside materials to the inside once a month to speed things up or once or twice a year if you are in no rush for the finished compost.

Composting fall leaves helps to curtail pollution from over fertilization, conserves water by improving your lawn and garden soils, and reduces the amount of waste going to landfills and incinerators. It’s a great way to contribute towards a cleaner environment and save money. For more information on lawn care and composting or to request composting publications, contact UNH Cooperative Extension’s Family, Home and Garden Education Center info-line toll-free at 1-877-398-4769 or visit http://ceinfo.unh. edu/home.html. For more information about composting and New Hampshire community compost bin sales contact the New Hampshire Compost Association at (603) 271-2591 or visit www.nhcompost.com/ or call the N.H. Department of Environmental Services at (603) 271-2975.