A gardener urged people to do one task in April (stock image) (Image: Getty) This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
As the temperatures are getting warmer, now is the perfect time to preapre your garden for summer time, which can include cleaning up bushes and sowing and plants that you might want.
However, gardening expert and author of Grow Your Own Groceries, Simon Akeroyd has now urged all home gardeners to complete one more task in April, as it will help keep your garden as sustainable in the process, and it won’t cost you a penny to do.
Many will known that if you want a pretty and happy garden, one of the key things you need is good compost and soil, which can quickly become expensive if you want a good quality one. But by following Simon’s steps, you will be able to enjoy amazing quality compost completely for free.
“The single most important thing when starting gardening… is to make beautiful compost,” Simon revealed in his TikTok video.
But why should you put your time and effort into making your own compost? Simon explained that this will make your garden sustainable and cheaper, as you don’t have to buy any compost from a garden centre or supermarket.
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“Making beautiful compost is so easy,” he explained, before moving on to share his tips and tricks to other home gardeners.
How to make your own compost
The first thing he recommends is to make your own compost bins from recycled free pallets. We went on to place them in a U formation, before tying them together with wire, but you can also use strong string.
“It requires no DIY skills,” he declared. “Even I can do it.”
After having built your free compost bin, Simon recommens adding a second one next to it, simply by adding two more pallets to form another U shape to the other side of the first one.
This is because you will be able to have one for adding to your compost, and the other to store resting and de-composting compost.
@simonakeroydgardener
How to make compost. Here is an easy gardening weekend project for you. How to make a free compost bin from recycled pallets. Use pallets that have been heat treated not treated with chemical preservatives as these might leach out into your compost. Look for the HT symbol on the pallet (heat treated)
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“You’re not ready to add your magical ingredients,” Simon revealed, as he added a small bucket of kitchen waste, such as fruit and vegetable peelings.
First, add a layer of cardboard down as the ‘floor’ of your compost bins, along with leaves and grass clippings. Then, add most of your garden waste on top.
A 50:50 ratio of greens to browns, along with heat, breaks down organic matter into nutrient-rich soil in 3-6 months, according to the RHS. As time goes on, you should go and turn your compost a few times a year to add more air into the compost mixture to speed up the process.
“Leave it to rot down and become beautiful compost,” Simon said.
The composting process can take between six months and two years to reach maturity. Larger quantities of material tend to compost more efficiently, but smaller bins, while slower, should still produce good results
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