Gardening With BNT

***Thewatering isn’t necessary, it just speeds
"Gardening With BNT"the process.
Your source for gardening ideas includingBecause I don’t turn the pile, I can’t
composting tips, pest control tips,attractingexpect all ofthe material to rot completely. The
beneficial insects and other garden helpers, tips onmaterial in the center isgoing to break down more
growingvegetables, annuals and perennials, andthan the material on the edges, butmost of it
much, much, more.does breakdown quite well.
October 1, 2003 Volume 1, Issue 1The next step works great for me because
Bill and Terry (BNT) Regling,I’ve got asmall nursery, so I keep a pile of
***potting soil on hand at alltimes. But you can really
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issuedo the same thing by just buying twoor three
of "Gardening With BNT."yards of shredded mulch to get started, and piling
You are receiving this newsletter because youitup near your compost bins. If you do this, you
requested a subscription.will alwayshave a supply of good compost to
Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of thiswork with.
newsletter.Shredded bark, left in a pile will eventually
***breakdownand become great compost. The
IN THIS ISSUEpotting soil that I use is about
***80% rotted bark. I make potting soil by
=> Four Tips for Designing Your Bedspurchasing finetextured, and dark hardwood bark
=> Guest Column: Composting the Easy Waymulch, and I just put it in apile and let it rot. The
=> Garden Tool Nooksecret is to keep the pile low andflat, so that it
=> Hot Tipsdoes not shed the rain water away, you wantthe
=> Garden Nookmulch to stay as wet as possible, this will cause it
=> Be a Weed Eatertobreakdown fairly quick.
=> Reader's QuestionsSo I keep a pile of rotted bark mulch near my
=> From Our Readerscompostbins. When both bins are completely full, I
***empty the bincontaining the oldest material by
This newsletter is brought to you bypiling it on top of my rottedbark mulch. I make
***sure the pile of rotted mulch is wide andflat on
FOUR TIPS FOR DESIGNING YOUR BEDStop so that when I put the material from the
**compostbin on top of the pile, the compost
1. Plants with opposite textures, shapes and/ormaterial is only 5 to 10inches thick. My mulch pile
forms should by planted nextto each other inmight be 12’ wide, but it may onlybe 24 to
your bed. They compliment each other better30 inches high. Once I have all the compost on
thanhaving all of the same kinds of flowers in onetop ofthe pile, then I go around the edge of the
bed.pile with a shovel,and take some of the material
2. Keep track of which plants retain good foliagefrom the edges of the pile andtoss it up on top
throughout the season. Youcan plant them nextof the pile, covering the compost with atleast
to other plants that look scraggily after blooming.6” of rotted bark. This will cause the compost
3. Plan a focal point for each month that catchesmaterialto decompose the rest of the way.
the eye with bright color,shape or form.Once you get this system started, you never
4. Allow enough space for each plant to grow.want to useall of the material in the pile. Always
Leave about 1 1/2 square feetaround each plant.keep at least 2 to 3cubic yards on hand so
If your garden looks sparse before the perennialsyou’ve got something to mix with
bloom,plant some annuals to fill it in. But be carefulyourcompost. If you use a lot of compost
of what you plant, some annualscan grow verymaterial like I do, thenyou should buy more
large.material and add to your pile in the latesummer or
***fall, once you are done using it for the season.
Try Plow & Hearth forAround here many of the supply companies sell a
Gifts for the home, hearth, yard, & gardencompostmaterial that is already broken down
***quite well. This is what
GUEST ARTICLE: COMPOSTING THE EASYI buy to add to my stock pile. But I try to make
WAYby Michael J. McGroartysure that Ihave at least 3 yards of old material on
***hand, then I’ll addanother 3 yards of fresh
Click here to visit the home page.material to that. Then in the spring
Click here to sign up for Mike McGroarty'sI’ll empty one of the compost bins and
FREE Gardening Newsletter!add the compost to thetop of the pile.
Having an ample supply of good rich compost isThe pile of usable compost will be layers of
thegardeners dream. It has many uses, and all ofmaterial,some more composted than others. Kind
those uses willresult in nicer plants. However,of like a sandwich. Sowhat I do is chip off a
composting can be timeconsuming and hard work.section of the pile from the edge,spread it out on
I place a reasonable value on mytime, so spendingthe ground so it’s only about 8” deep,
hours and hours turning compost pilesthenrun over it with my small rototiller. This mixes
doesn’tqualify as a worthwhile exercise, atit togetherperfectly, and I shovel it onto the
least in my book.potting bench.
Nonetheless, I do compost, but I do so on myHaving a pile of rotted compost near your
terms.compost binsis great because if you have a lot of
I built two composting bins. Each bin is fiveleaves or grassclippings, you can throw some
feetwide, five feet deep, and four feet high. I builtrotted compost in the bin inorder to maintain that
the bins bysinking 4” by 4” posts in thelayered effect that is necessary inorder for the
ground for the corners, and thennailed 2 bycomposting process to work well.
4’s and 1 by 4’s, alternating on theSure this process is a little work, but it sure is
sides. I leftniceto have a place to get rid of organic waste
2” gaps between the boards for air circulation.anytime I like.
The 2 by 4’sare rigid enough to keep theThen down the road when I have beautiful
sides from bowing out, and inbetween each 2 bycompost to add to mypotting soil, I am grateful
4 I used 1 by 4’s to save a little money.to have done the right thingearlier, and I know
The bins are only 3 sided, I left the front of thethat I have wasted nothing.
bins open sothey can be filled and emptied easily.Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article.
I started by filling just one of the bins. I putVisit his most interesting website, andsign up for
grassclippings, dried leaves, and shrub clippings inhis excellent gardening newsletter, and grab a
the bins. Itry not to put more than 6” of eachFREEcopy of his E-book, "Easy Plant Propagation"
material on a layer. Youdon’t want 24”**
of grass clippings in the bin, you shouldalternateTo be a Guest Columnist
layers of green and brown material. IfSend your article to
necessary,keep a few bags of dry leaves around*
so you can alternatelayers of brown waste andWhere America Stays Green on the Internet...
green waste. When we root cuttingswe use*
coarse sand in the flats, so when it’s time**HOT TIPS**
to pull therooted cuttings out of the flats, the old**
sand goes on thecompost pile. In or little backyardGARDEN TOOL NOOK
nursery we also have someplants in containersInstall a rural style mailbox on a post near your
that do not survive. Rather than pullingthe deadgarden. You can paint flowerson it for a
plant and the weeds out of the container, andgreat-looking waterproof nook to keep small hand
thendumping the potting soil back on the soil pile,tools, gardengloves, kneeling pads or even a
we just dumpthe whole container in the compostnotebook for writing down garden records. Thisis
bin, this adds more brownmaterial to the mix, andone way to make sure you don't put off writing
is a lot easier than separating thesoil and thedown planting times,fertilizing schedules, etc.
weeds.**
Once the bin is full, the rules of composting sayBE A WEED EATER
thatyou should turn the material in the bin everyMany of the "weeds" you try so hard to get rid
few weeks. Thereis no way that I have time toof can actually be eaten andcontain two or three
do that, so this is what I do. Ipack as muchtimes the nutritional value than spinach or
material in the bin as I can, before I startfilling theswisschard.
second bin. I pile the material as high as IpossiblyUse young leaves from dandelion, chicory, lamb's
can, and even let it spill out in front of the bin.quarters, shepard's purseor watercress for a wild
Then I cover all the fresh material with mulch orgreens salad. Serve with a vinegar and oil dressing.
potting soil,whatever brown material I can find.You can also steam or sauté any of these
Then when I’m out workingin the garden I"weeds." Sauté in olive oil andgarlic and/or
set a small sprinkler on top of the pile andturn itdrizzle with lemon juice.
on very low, so a small spray of water runs on**
thematerial. Since I have a good water well, thisGardener's Supply Outlet Savings
doesn’t cost meanything, so I let it run forOrder your fall gardening supplies now and save.
at least two hours as often as Ican. This keepsGardener's Supply Fall Outlet Sale - Save and
the material damp, and the moisture will causetheadditional 10% on orders of $50 or more
pile to heat up, which is what makes the**
composting actiontake place.READER'S QUESTIONS
Once I have the first bin completely full, I**
startusing the second bin. As the material in theHave a question? Ask BNT.
first bin startsto break down, it will settle, and theSend your questions to
bin is no longer heapedup, so I just keep shoveling**
the material that I piled in frontof the bin, up onFROM OUR READERS
top of the pile, until all the material iseither in the**
bin, or piled on top of the heap. Then I justleave itHave a gardening idea, country recipe, or picture
alone, except to water it once in a while.you'd like to share?