If you are interested in the environment, gardening and wildlife then you will more than likely want to start your own compost if you haven’t done so already. For those who have no experience in composting you might think that it’s going to be very difficult. The good news is that it’s pretty easy as long as you do your research beforehand.
Types Of Compost
As with most things, there are a number of different types of compost you can create in your garden. If you want something very simple and easy then you can buy plastic compost bins. Basically they have an open bottom which is placed on the ground and then there’s a lid on the top that allows you to add the composting ingredients.
The problem with the type of compost bin described above is that only worms can get into the compost. Worms are fantastic and are very much encouraged, however if you want to be truly wildlife-friendly you will want to attract other creatures. For those in the UK, this means you’ll want to attract hedgehogs and toads plus other creatures.
This means you will need to build a compost heap which is easily accessible for these animals. The simplest form of compost is literally just a heap of organic matter covered up with an old carpet. Unfortunately these compost heaps don’t look particularly attractive. However if you create a screen made from a trellis or bamboo then you can hide it pretty well.
What To Add To Your Compost?
There are two main ingredients of a compost and these are dry items and wet items. Dry items include paper, cardboard, wood chippings, sawdust and leaves. Wet items include fruit, vegetables, lawn clippings, seaweed, tea bags and coffee grounds.
It’s imperative that you aim to add equal amounts of dry and wet items to your compost. If your compost is too dry then you will have problems with it smelling badly and it will also attract flies. If it’s too dry then the compost won’t break down.
There are some things you shouldn’t add to the compost either. Don’t add in cooked food, meat and fish because this will attract vermin. Don’t use perennial weeds because this will cause them to spread to your compost. Also be careful about adding roses with thorns on the stems because they are slow to break down. When you go to use the compost you might accidentally cut yourself on the thorns.
Where To Place Your Compost?
First of all it’s a good idea for it to be fairly near to your kitchen so that you don’t have to walk too far to add kitchen scraps. Otherwise, it doesn’t really matter where you locate it. However it must be on bare earth to allow worms into the compost. The worms are very important in processing the organic materials into a useable form.
Slugs and snails will also find their way into the compost to help the decomposing process. You might not like the idea of encouraging slugs and snails into your garden however think about it this way: if they’re happily munching away on the food in your compost, they won’t have any reason to leave and start munching your prized plants!
How To Get Oxygen Into The Compost?
The reason why composts are so beneficial the environment is because they don’t create methane gas the way that organic materials in landfill does. Why is this? Well, it’s simply because of the oxygen in the compost. Landfill is so compressed there is no way for oxygen to get in.
There are different methods of getting oxygen into your compost and some of them involve quite a lot of work whilst others are pretty simple and straightforward. The most tricky method involves turning the compost over. So basically you take the top layers off the compost and put them somewhere else so that eventually the bottom layer of compost is now sitting on the top. The involves a lot of work and also space in your garden which you might not have.
The simpler way to oxygenate your compost is to use a garden fork or compost turner/aerator to mix the contents of the compost. Please note that you might have a hedgehog or toad living in your compost so be careful you don’t use the fork too violently.
Another way of keeping oxygen in the compost is too add items such as egg boxes, twigs and cardboard toilet rolls in along with all of the other ingredients. Simply by doing this you will create air pockets in the compost.
Although all of the above information might seem like quite a lot if you have no previous experience in composting, the truth is that it’s really simple. You don’t have to have “green fingers” in order to start a compost and it should be able to fit into any garden - big or small.
It’s getting that time of year when you have to start thinking about lawn care again. There are so many different things that can go wrong with your lawn including weeds, fungus and of course moss. Moss is perhaps the biggest of lawn care headaches because they are so many different reasons why it occurs in the first place and also there are simply loads of products on the market.
One thing to understand is that the guy that cuts your lawn isn’t necessarily a lawn care expert. He might be able to manoeuvre a lawnmower about but that’s just about all. Instead there are lawn care experts who know just about everything there is no know about lawns. So if you have a problem with moss you should do as much reading on the subject as you can and do the work yourself. Or locate a true and proper lawn care expert who will do the work for you. If you have a neighbor with a particularly beautiful lawn you could also try asking them for some advice.
There’s more to lawn care than simply killing the moss that’s causing the problem. You need to really understand what conditions the moss thrives on and make sure you don’t allow these conditions to be present. If you just kill the moss you can end up with big bare patches on your lawn and the moss will more than likely just come back again.
First of all there’s the issue of the type of soil you have. Many people think that moss loves acidic soil and that you need to add in lime in order to make it less acidic. The problem is that this isn’t really all that true because moss can grow on limestone.
Be careful about how much you cut your lawn. Sometimes people can leave the cutting of their lawn for many weeks because they have been away on vacation, the weather has been bad or perhaps that have just been too lazy. When you don’t cut the lawn regularly enough the blades of grass can get too long. When you do eventually cut the grass, the first cut can end up not being enough. So you end up going over it a second time. This is very bad because you’re cutting too much away in the one day.
Of course, from time to time you have no option but to leave the lawn uncut for weeks. So whenever this happens you should avoid doing two cuts in the same day. Instead you should do a cut one day and then the second cut a day or two later. You should also cut the lawn in different directions each time. The different directions you can choose from are lengthwise, breadth wise and diagonally.
By following the above advice you can ensure that the grass stays healthy and won’t allow the moss room to start growing. Another thing you will want to do is make sure it’s well aerated. Over time the soil can become compacted and basically you need to get some oxygen into the soil. There are a variety of tools on the market to help you with aeration. Which one you choose really is dependant on the size of your lawn, how much money you have to spend and how much work you want to put into the process.
Your lawn also need to have access to the nutrients it needs to grow thick and lush. Therefore adding fertilizer is a big part of lawn care. Fertilizing your lawn isn’t all that straight forward because it depends on what time of the year you are going to use the fertilizer. So don’t just rush out and buy just any kind of fertilizer and add it to your lawn at any time. Make sure you look at the instructions to see when and how you apply it.
Hopefully you now understand that there is a whole load more to a moss-free lawn than just killing the lawn. You need to understand good solid lawn care techniques to ensure you have a healthy lawn that will not encourage the growth of moss. If you do decide to go with a company instead of doing it yourself you should make sure they really do know what they are doing and have experience in getting rid of moss.
Plenty of people have trees cut down in their garden. Perhaps the tree has become too big, diseased or have been blown down in a storm. Whatever the reason, you will want to have the stump removed too. It's very easy to have the tree felled but having the stump removed is a whole lot more difficult. There are a number of techniques that can be employed when getting rid of a tree stump. The easiest method would simply involves paying for a tree stump removal service to do the work for you. However this isn't a cheap option so you might want to do the work yourself, in which case you should look at grinding, digging and chemicals.
The amount of work involved in getting rid of your tree stump can really vary depending on what type of tree you have, the age and the type of soil. For instance a pine tree has very wide and flat root systems whilst an oak tree has deep roots making it more difficult to kill off.
If you have a tree which is relatively small and has a shallow root system then digging the stump up by hand will not require too much hard work. You will need a shovel, axe, loppers and root saw. You then need to dig around the area to expose the roots and cut them away.
Normally nature will take care of removing the tree stumps by rotting it down but the problem is that it takes such a long time. If you don't want to wait decades for this process to be completed you can use chemicals to speed up the process. Don't expect the chemicals to work magically overnight however it is a good technique that doesn't require an awful lot of work.
If you have an old stump that has been around for more than a year just use a chainsaw to cut the stump as close to the ground as possible, ensuring the blades don't actually come into contact with the ground. You then use a drill to create holes in the stump that are a few inches deep and also good and wide. Having them as deep and wide as possible is going to be better. Then pour in some stump remover chemical along with some water. In about 6 weeks the stump should have rotted down.
Removing the rotten stump is then pretty easy if using an axe. However there are those who set fire to the stump rather than removing it from the axe. In order to burn the stump you need to pouring kerosene or fuel oil down the holes. You will need to wait for the wood to become saturated before putting a match down into one of the holes. This is a slow-burning technique so you don't have to worry about it going up in a ball of flames however you should keep kids and pets away from it.
Make sure you don't use gasoline and also keep an eye on the stump now and again to make sure everything is OK. Having a bucket of sand to hand might be a good idea too just in case you need it. In terms of safety it's probably better just to remove the stump with an axe. Also check to see whether you are allowed to burn tree stumps where you live.
A more mechanical method of removing a tree stump is to use a grinder. If you want to do this yourself you can hire a tree stump grinder but be careful to follow the safety advice otherwise you could easily hurt yourself. The grinder simply turns your stump into wood chips and the grinding will occur to about 10 inches underneath the ground. This will allow you to plant any other plant, shrub or tree there as you wish.
Whatever method you bring into force for getting rid of tree stumps, it's going to be hard work and you need to have the right equipment. Don't do anything stupid, make sure you read the instructions and if you don't know what you're doing - get a professional tree removal service in!
