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Plants

Compost and green manures

Posted by: Adam Pasco, 31 March 2008, 09.23AM

Sowing seed of green manure plants Who could ever produce enough compost for all their needs? I remember watching the late Geoff Hamilton at Barnsdale week after week on Gardeners' World, using countless buckets of beautiful home-made compost. Every planting hole was filled with the stuff, every shrub and fruit bush mulched with a thick layer, and still the overflowing buckets continued to come!

I'm a keen home composter - who isn't these days - but I do still resort to buying in mushroom compost from time to time. If I lived near a farm or stables then I'm sure I'd be calling in regularly for a few bags of their delicious produce, but now I've discovered an alternative. I'm growing my own compost. Well, actually its correct name is green manure.

Several plants can be grown as green manures, sown onto beds and borders and forming a green carpet that can be dug directly into the soil, improving its organic content. Where areas aren't required for crops or bedding for a couple of months I put the area to good use by sowing green manures.

Types to sow now include crimson clover, fenugreek, field lupins - even broad beans. They germinate and grow quickly and reduce weed growth. Flowering varieties even attract bees and beneficial insects.

Nothing could be simpler, and the green manures help break up my heavy clay soil as their roots grow. All very rewarding, and I'm also spared the expense of ordering extra compost.

Comments

  • Compost Problem

    31 March 2008, 01.01PM

    Hi, we have been filling a black 'darleck' style compost bin since last summer. I opened it this weekend to add some more green waste to it and found it infested with white fly. How bad is my problem, do I need to exterminate my compost darleck? Regards Ben

  • Alex

    31 March 2008, 01.26PM

    Beware, however: In garden centres there are bags of seeds labelled as "for organic growing", but if you look at the small print you'll see that the seeds weren't organically produced! Just something to keep in mind if you're interested in these things

  • 22april44

    02 March 2008, 09.35AM

    What do I do about persistent moss on my borders, both soil and shrub stems? Would lawn sand kill the plants?

  • Adam Pasco

    07 April 2008, 04.08PM

    Useful comment Alex. Thanks. Don't worry about the flies, Ben. Lots of 'creatures' get involved in the composting process, and shouldn't be causing any harm. Do remember to mix up the contents of your compost bin from time to time. Either plunge in a fork and turn the material, or tip out all the contents and mix-up as you return it.

    Moss in borders and growing on shrub stems indicates a very moist environment, high rainfall, etc. Sometimes you'll be able to improve drainage, fork over borders, and reduce the tree/branch canopy to let in more light and air. If none of this is possible you'll just have to put up with the moss!

  • Sue

    14 April 2008, 08.28PM

    I am lucky enough to have a plentiful supply of horse manure from a neighbour but is there something about the fixing and lifting qualities of green manure that warrants alternating these two composting techniques.

    Also would composting alone be sufficient to restore the quality of a neighbours soil that I think has suffered from coal ash being tipped on it. Nothing seems to want to grow, we have removed the ash but will it need topsoil as well as manure.

  • muddigger

    04 May 2008, 11.58AM

    please can you tell me why the rhubarb that has been growing in my mams garden has,over the last three or so years, started to come up really well and healthy looking then died off before getting to full size. it has been there for about thirty odd years growing perfectly every year, is it just to old? what if anything can i do .

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