This post is the final in a series of three that will help you start a home composting bin. Be sure to read the previous two posts (The Basics opens in a new tab and Get the Right Bin opens in a new tab), and you’ll be ready to compost whether you have only houseplants or have a full backyard veggie garden!You’ve done the dirty work of making great compost at home. Now it’s time to put it to good use in the garden!
Ready-to-use compost is like warm, fluffy brown-black soil with flecks throughout that smells earthy (in a good way). It’s chock-full of nutrients for your garden and has many applications.
Gold for the Garden Beds
The easiest way to use compost is to add it to your garden beds. Work a nice layer of compost into the dirt when starting new beds. Compost is super nutritious; one part compost to three parts soil is a good measure to keep in mind. Since compost needs some time to settle, aim to prepare the beds about a week before planting.
If adding compost to an existing plant or garden bed, sprinkle around the stems and then give the plants a good watering. This will help the nutrients work their way down to the root system.
Tea Time
You can also brew your own “compost tea opens in a new tab” to concentrate the healthy nutrients. Apply directly to the base of your plants as a great natural fertilizer, and to help ailing plants. Be careful not to get it on the foliage, though; the concentrated nitrogen, while healthy for the root system, can burn the leaves.
Any way you cut it, compost makes for happy plants, which makes for happy gardeners. How do you get happy with compost?
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