An entire array of garden products, like mulch and related products, exist that you can use to amend your growing soil. You can get them at nurseries and home improvement retailers when you are pressed for time, but with a little forethought, you can prevent the need to waste this money. Read on into the following paragraphs for cheap ways to better your soil for gardening.
Rather than waste time with buying large quantities of mulch, why not start a compost pile? You might only garden during the spring and summer, but you generate yard waste for most of the year. You also generate kitchen waste every day of the week. These volumes of waste can be harnessed easily in a compost bin that turns into the perfectly free fuel and food for your next growing season.
Similar in thought and concept to composting is lasagna gardening, although you are not actually using or growing lasagna. The lasagna designation is in fact a reference to spreading multiple layers of compost-appropriate material over the top of your ground. Things you would include could be yard waste, like grass clippings and leaves, and residential waste ranging from junk mail shreddings and newspaper to cardboard. Check with your local fellow gardeners about how well this works on the soil in your region. Done right, it means gardening with your very own trash, the ultimate in recycling. Done wrong, it means the first storm sends your garbage downhill and throughout the neighborhood. Still, mulch costs money and your trash is free.
Contact your local city or county government and inquire about buying compost from them. Many municipal governments have compost sales available as part of environmental initiatives, and yet may not have advertised them very well. Since large cities have lots of recycling and waste to handle, any chance to make even a little revenue from the collection is usually welcome.
If you do not want to buy mulch or spend every day sifting through your garbage to collect compost, why not grow it? Compost crops have been used by farmers for centuries to preserve and renew soil. These crops can produce high volumes of organic matter as quickly as six to eight weeks, and are largely designed to just be cut and composted. Depending on your specific variety, you can expect benefits ranging from more nitrogen-rich soil to higher organism activity in the ground. The general point of all compost crops is the same: to make the soil they grow in viable ground for a more specifically useful crop afterwards.
If you want a lush garden with thriving plants, you have to amend the soil even prior to planting the first seed. If you are mindful and deliberate about doing this farther in advance, you can spare yourself an expensive trip to the store. That way, you have more funds free to spend on the specific plants or seeds you really want to take a try at. You might even be able to afford those nice stepping stones you dreamed of last summer!
Speak Your Mind