Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County

compost

Gardening Video: Making and Using Compost at Home

Gardening in the Mountains presents:
Making and Using Compost at Home

Presenter: Phil Roudebush, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

Composting keeps kitchen and yard waste out of the landfill and scales easily for home application. This video covers the basics of composting including; different methods, benefits, and what not to compost. It also provides tips for improving your operation, several resources for more information, and troubleshooting tips.

Video access:
To access this video on the Buncombe County Master Gardener website, click on the link below:

Making and Using Compost at Home

Or go to www.buncombemastergardener.org , click on the ‘Gardening Videos’ tab at the top of the page and select the video from the list provided.

What NOT to Do in the Garden

Frost has left your yard looking kind of dead. You hear the neighbors blowing leaves and see them busily tidying up—you feel guilty that you’re going out for a hike or sitting inside dreaming of next spring rather than doing yardwork. But you may be doing your landscape a favor by doing less!

Leaves that need to be raked, bagged or not ?

What to do with leaves?
Do you really need to rake up and dispose of leaves?
Leave them! In many cases, you can simply leave them where they fall: in wooded areas, under trees or shrubs, on your vegetable garden, flower beds—in fact, almost anywhere but a lawn, leaves can act as a mulch and eventual soil enrichment.
• Move them where needed. If the leaves are constantly blowing back onto your lawn, or are matting and smothering groundcovers or small plants, move them to other areas where they can break down in peace.
• Shred them with a shredder or lawn mower. Shredding will help leaves stay in place and break down more quickly. Using a mulching mower on your lawn before leaves get too deep will save you from raking there, too.
• The bottom line: If you must rake, save your leaves in a compost pile or in an unobtrusive area of your yard to spread back on your planting beds once they break down.

What about leaf blowers?
If you must move leaves around, consider that these concerns—Electric or gas blowers may:
• Harm beneficial insects, small animals and their habitats
• Damage plants and shrubs
• Create noise and air pollution.

What about pruning?
With the exception of diseased or damaged wood, leave pruning shrubs and trees until late winter—or immediately after bloom in the case of trees and shrubs that bloom on “old” wood.

Evening primrose_Oenothera biennis_seed pods_Andreas Rockstein_CC BY-SA 2.0_Flickr
Consider leaving seed heads for awhile.

What about annual and perennial plants?
Although you may be tempted to cut everything back in the interest of neatness, consider leaving dried seed heads for winter interest, self-sowing, and feeding the birds—at least until the seeds are gone or stems start to break down. One exception, of course, is if plants seed so aggressively that they become nuisances. Consider removing such plants and replacing them with more desirable alternatives.

Enjoy your break from yardwork!
Take time to reflect on what is working well in your garden and what needs rethinking. How does your yard look at this time of year? Does it have good “bones” that make it attractive in all four seasons, or do you need to consider adding some new plants that look good in fall or winter? Do you need to remove failing or overgrown trees or shrubs? Is there too much lawn? You still have time to plant this fall—until the ground is frozen—or start planning for next year!

Take time to evaluate your landscape.

Article by Debbie Green, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer

For more information about fall planting:

https://chatham.ces.ncsu.edu/2017/09/fall-is-the-best-time-to-plant-trees-and-shrubs/

 

Outdoor Composting: Make Black Gold for Your Garden

It’s that time of year when leaves are falling! We gardeners have choices: let the leaves remain where they’ve dropped; use them elsewhere in our landscapes; rake, bag and drag them to the curb to be added to the landfill; burn; or compost them.

Although the City of Asheville collects bagged leaves, in much of Buncombe County you must bring bags to the landfill and pay a fee. Our landfills are becoming increasingly full, made up of 20% to 30% food scraps and garden waste, according to the EPA. Burning is not permitted in the city. The county allows burning of yard waste only at designated days and times, and where there is no public trash pickup. Depending on your location, you may need a permit!

Pile of Leaves_Compost_Jeremy Noble_CC BY 2.0_Flickr
Leaves ready for compost heap

If you aren’t using leaves elsewhere in your yard, start a compost heap and make “black gold” for your garden!

Advantages of composting
Compost is the material that results from the decomposition of biodegradable materials. Composting is easy, doesn’t add to the landfill, enriches the soil while helping retain moisture, and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. 

It’s all about the soil. Composting replenishes soil nutrients that help plants grow, slowly releasing major nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium) for gradual use by plants. It loosens clay soil and helps sandy soil retain moisture. Use compost as a mulch at the base of plants, or dig it into the soil when planting. Compost is an ideal soil amendment for gardening uses.

Composting “do’s”
It can take from 3 months to a year to produce good workable compost, depending on the method used and how often it is turned. A composting area is ideally located in a semi-shady, level place which will be convenient to use, but is over 6 feet away from your house.

A compost pile is made of roughly equal proportions of “green” and “brown” materials with enough water to keep things damp and ready to decompose. Greens are nitrogen-rich ingredients such as vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, and grass clippings. Browns are carbon-based materials, such as dead leaves, branches, and twigs. You can include newspaper, but make sure it does not exceed more than 10 percent of the total weight of the material in the compost heap.

Layer greens and browns in roughly equal proportions, moistening the pile as you go. The materials will compost more quickly if they are chopped into small pieces. Turning the layers periodically will speed the breakdown process.

Composting “don’ts”
Some materials just won’t work in an outside compost pile:

  • Animal products such as meat or bones, grease, or dairy products. These can attract rodents.
  • Dog feces or similar waste that may contain parasites.
  • Diseased plants or plant material that have been treated with pesticides or herbicides.
  • Glossy magazines often have toxic pigments and should not be used.
  • Orange peels and other citrus rinds, corn cobs, and nut shells which break down very slowly.
  • Any plants that contain intact seed heads.

Composting structures
If you don’t want a simple compost heap, you can use a variety of compost structures. One is a circular ring of closely woven metal fencing material about 4 to 5 feet in diameter with chain clips for fasteners. These can be unsnapped for ease in turning the pile.

A very user-friendly method is the three-bin structure, which uses a kind of assembly-line process. Place three bins next to each other in a row. Make each 3- to 5-foot square bin of sturdy fence wire, held in place with either metal or rot-resistant wood posts. Using removable slats in the front of each bin keeps the area tidy, while allowing easy access to turn the compost. Start the fresh material to be composted in the first bin. Turn it into the middle bin after a few days of “cooking,” and put a fresh batch in the first bin. Finally, move the middle material to the third bin until it is finished compost and ready to use.

Plastic drums which rotate are also available. While they make turning the compost easy, the drums can get heavy and hard to turn when full.

The finished product
Your compost is ready when it is dark brown, has a light and crumbly texture similar to potting soil, and has a pleasant earthy scent. It takes just a little effort to do so much good for your soil and for our environment!

Learn more
Extension Master Gardener Handbook: Composting
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/2-composting

Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency: Open Burning Rules
https://www.buncombecounty.org/common/WncAir/burning/burning-pamphlet.pdf

Article written by Sally Wheeler, Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer.

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

Events

Keep up with our events by subscribing to the blog or checking our Events Calendar.

Explore the Archives

Back to Top