ascendency sess , grow healthier plant , and feed your lawn with nutrient - rich compost .
Once you ’ve purchased compost ormade your own at place , what is compost used for ? This versatile garden amendment can enrich stain , improve works health , smother smoke , and so much more . In the list below , get out how to practice compost to reach all these garden benefits . Whetheryou have flower beds , a vegetable garden , or just a few potted plant , adding a flake of compost is always a in effect melodic theme .
Getty Images / schulzie
Credit:Getty Images / schulzie
1. Improve Soil
One of the most plebeian ways to utilise compost is as asoil amendment . Compost can be mix into establish flower or vegetable gardens in springtime or fall to replenish any nutrient that plants used up during the previous season . instead , compost can beadded to new garden bedsor areas in your lawn that are too heavy in Lucius DuBignon Clay or gumption .
To usecompost as a soil amendment , spread about 2 to 3 inches of compost across your garden beds and then mix it into the top 6 inches of the land with a shovel or deal cultivator . Not only does compost provide nutrient , but it will increase your territory ’s ability to hold moisture anddrain efficiently .
2. Use Compost as a Side or Top Dressing
mix compost into your dirt can be a second of workplace , but there ’s an eveneasier no - dig gardening solution . utilize compost in planting bed as a side dressing or top fertilization . Simply spread a tenuous layer of compost on top of the territory in empty bed in spring or fall . Then permit the rainwater to moisten the nutrient deep into the land to your plants ’ etymon .
Heavy eating plants and vegetables often benefit from a side dressing of compost during the arise time of year , too . Just place a few handfuls of aged compost around the base of your plants , verify the compost does n’t directly touch the stems . A side dressing of compost can be peculiarly helpful when practice just before flora place fruit and blossom .
3. Revive Potting Mix
The potting mix in your houseplant pots or container gardens can get depleted over time . Plus , frequent watering can pack the commixture even further and make it too impenetrable . Mixing compost into your pot mixonce or twice a yr will refresh one-time territory and keep your plants thriving for many year to come .
4. Mulch to Control Weeds
Bark and straw mulch are normally used in garden beds to suppress weeds , but compost is another splendid organic mulch alternative that proffer a band of benefits . Compost mulch usually incorporate a blanket raiment of nutrient to ameliorate your soil thanother type of mulch . The small grain sizing and ordered coloration of compost also makes an attractive mulch that put to work evenly well in ornamental and vegetable bed .
To use compost as a mulch , spread 1 to 3 in of compost across your garden in spring or fall . Once in place , compost mulch will inhibit weeds and shield your soil , slowing evaporation rates and conserving soil moisture stratum while minimizing erosion .
5. Make Compost Tea
Compost can be brew in water tocreate compost tea , which can be applied to both indoor and out-of-door industrial plant . Effective as both a dirt drench and a foliar spraying , compost tea can provide nutrients to your plants and help keep common plant diseases likepowdery mildew .
6. Boost New Plants
Give yournew annuals , perennials , trees , and bulbs a hike when you found them by adding some compost . Before backfilling your planting golf hole , contribute a little compost to the soil you off and combine it in well . Adding compost to fresh planting can facilitate plants conform more easy to their new place and it encourages a kick of fresh growth too .
7. Feed Your Houseplants
Houseplants can become nutritive deficient as they mature and deplete the nutrients in their potting mix . Blendingcompostinto your potting mixture every time you repot your indoor plants can revive lacklustre works and keep them looking their best . For an even easier software , compost tea leaf works well on indoor plants and it can be sum to yourregular houseplant watering subprogram .
8. Create a DIY Potting Mix
storage - buy potting mixes can be expensive and they may useless eco - friendly ingredients , like peat moss . Instead , you could easily make your own food - rich potting mix to use on houseplants and container gardens . To make your own potting mix , blend together equal constituent of compost , vermiculite , and coconut coir .
9. Perk Up Your Lawn
Spreading 1 to 3 inch of compost across bare soilbefore planting grassorclover seedswill help your fresh lawn take root quicker . Ideally , this thin level of compost should be mix into the top few inches of topsoil but you could seed directly over the level of compost too . For established lawn , spread a half - inch layer of finely sift compost over your grass to provide food and reduce your need for fertilizer . Because compost helps grease hold on to water , sum up compost to lawnsmay alsolower your lawn ’s watering needs . For an easy app , apply the compost with a programme spreader and then rake your lawn gently to verify the compost is evenly distributed .
