Set yourself, and your plants, up for success and create a strong foundation for your plants to grow… Start from the ground up. Success in the garden starts with the soil. It’s not sexy, or pretty, but your plants will thank you for putting the effort into improving the soil. Happy, healthy plants are also more resilient and better able to cope with or avoid damage from pests and disease. You will likely have heard us say (over and over, again and again) – ADD COMPOST! Unfortunately, adding compost is not a golden bullet; It is not a one and done exercise. Soil conditioning, through the addition of compost is an ongoing process like most care and maintenance.
Benefits of using compost:
- Compost is a soil conditioner.
- Compost improves soil structure.
- Compost attracts beneficial organisms… not just worms, but also good bacteria, fungi and insects that help keep your soil biome healthy and diverse.
- Compost improves drainage.
- Compost improves water and nutrient holding capacity and reduces water runoff; it acts like a sponge.
- Compost opens up, or ‘fluffs’ clay;Gypsum (a clay-breaker) works best when used with compost.
- Compost reduces the potential for erosion.
- Adding compost sequesters carbon in the soil;
AND, composting reduces organic waste going to landfill.
Commercial Products vs Composting at Home:
| Commercial Compost Products | Home Composting |
| – It’s NOT free! – Can process a broader range of organic material. – Smell and/or rodents are someone else’s problem. – More consistent product. – Can be used immediately. – Requires no effort. | – FREE!!! – Reduce household waste; 80% of kitchen scraps & 100% (disease-free) pruning waste are compostable. – Be careful what goes in the compost to avoid smell and/or attracting rodents (don’t put things like meat in your home compost). – More variation in the end product. – You’ll need to wait until it’s decomposed enough. – Will need tending: collecting compostable material, ensuring balanced Carbon:Nitrogen ratios & moisture content, turning/aerating. |
Need some tips to make your own compost? Click here.
Why is compost especially needed in Nillumbik?
Compost is one of the best things you can add to soil, regardless of type – from sand to clay. In Nillumbik we are faced with predominantly clay soil. Locally, the most common soil type is a dark grey-brown loam surface layer with a lighter grey subsurface layer over yellow-brown mottled clay subsoil. Soils are often shallow and gravelly on steep slopes. ‘Nillumbik’ is the name given to the local area by the Wurundjeri People. It means ‘shallow earth’… it’s not a new problem!
Difficulties with clay soil:
- Can become compacted and hard.
- Drainage and aeration may be poor.
- Drop in bioavailability of nutrients with falling temperature can be greater than other soil types.
COMPOST IS CLAY SOIL’S BEST FRIEND! Why? because clay has a high nutrient value. The addition of compost enables the nutrients to become available to the plants.
Check out the page on Soil in Nillumbik to learn more about our local Nillumbik soil and how COMPOST can help you plant successfully.