How Compost Helps Plant Growth

The resolve to do more green initiatives in one’s life doesn’t have to be a commitment to a totally foreign and expensive lifestyle. While many people enjoy living according to renewable energy sources and feel like they have been worth the initial high cost, going green in your landscaping can be a decidedly less difficult transition and still yield incredible results. What does “green gardening” look like? Isn’t that a bit of a redundant term? Essentially, instead of relying on waste management companies to haul away all of the organic trash that you throw away with the rest of your garbage, recycling that refuses into a compost pile and allowing that organic material back into your soil will accomplish a few environmental goals at once. First, it will enrichen the soil you use to garden, much like utilizing manure as a fertilizer. Secondly, it will spare the potential of those materials from being wasted as it is deposited out in a landfill somewhere.  

The Benefits of Composting

1. It Provides Much-Needed Nutrients. Just like an athlete trying to maintain their bodies for competition by taking a daily found of vitamin supplements, your soil craves the very same attention to detail in order to reach its full potential. Compost mulch helps provide these nutrients﹘elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium﹘which, when done frequently enough, will literally change the soil’s natural capacity of good nutrients and enhance its ability to ward off negative elements.
2. It Can Discourage Plant Disease and Pest Infestation. By enrichening the soil of your garden, you naturally raise its ability to remain healthy and defend itself from sickness. Just like a healthy lifestyle will mean fewer colds for a human, healthy soil can control the spread of plant diseases and the loss of crops. A recent study has determined that the good micro-organisms found in soil that are frequently mulched produce a higher store of antibodies and can actually create disease-resistant genes.
3. Makes Watering More Beneficial. Part of going green isn’t just using recyclable materials in your garden mulch, but in reducing the amount of watering you need to do to keep your plants healthy. Too much water will eventually lead to runoff, meaning that not only will excess amounts of water end up on the sidewalk or in the gutter but so will nutrient-rich layers of soil. Compost absorbs water very well and keeps plants soaked for longer periods of time. This way less water goes farther.
4. Compost Breaks Up Hard Soil. By encouraging the growth of good microbe communities and the retention of water, compost has been shown to actually break up notoriously hard and impacted soil like clay and silt. This is significant because loose soil means roots can dig down even deeper, creating stronger and healthier plants. Remarkably, compost doesn’t just make the soil easier to work with, it also makes it less likely to erode. 

How Do I Start?

• Grass trimmings
• Manure
• Crushed eggshells
• Vegetable shavings
• Teabags
• Unused Wine

• Pet (or people) droppings
• Animal products like bones, milk, and fish skins
• Any diseased plants