Southeast Texas Trees, LLC, as a Houston area tree arborist with tree, land clearing and mulch Houston metro service, likes to see more weekend gardeners get greener. Because composting is a green project that anyone can undertake, here the arborist shares the fundamentals on how make a composter that will help you produce the best Texas compost available, simply from the green debris of your kitchen and back yard.
How to construct a compost pile.
How to make a composter is super simple. A compost pile should be built on good soil and
a drainage system made from a layer of limbs. At the center situate a PVC pipe with lots of holes drilled up and down it. This will be useful for aeration as the compost pile grows.
Layer it!
Layer the following:
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Build successive layers of leaves and other green debris. Southeast Texas compost is normally made up of oak leaves, pine needles, and yard clippings. Oak leaves decompose nicely, while pine needles lend an acidity that is loved by azaleas and other native shrubs. You can also add the egg shells and ban ana peels in the green debris layer – when it comes to decomposition, it’s all good!
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Cover each layer with soil. Adding manure makes it even better. Sprinkle each layer with a balance fertilizer (the kind that does NOT contain a weed killer)
- Keep the pile moist. In winter, cover the plastic to prevent erosion and exposure to excessive rainfall. Wiggle the PVC pipe now and again to keep things loose.
Turn It!
After the pile is built, turn it with a pitchfork. This will aerate and mix the pile and prevent the bacterial process from overheating.
When the leaves and green debris have decomposed into a dark brown soil mixture, with bits of leaves still identifiable, it is ready for your garden. Sprinkle it around your flower beds and shrubbery. Use it on your vegetable garden. It creates an organic and healthy soil addition that will benefit the growth of all your plants. Then, while your neighbors admire your yard, you can tell them that the best Texas compost around is made in your own backyard, then share with them how they can make a composter of their own.
As an arborist, as we mulch Houston green debris and natural materials from land developments and construction sites, we are impacted by how readily nature desires to renew itself, and the chemical breakdown process of composting is the prime example of how nature returns all old things into resources for new growth. Considering that, sharing composting knowledge is a beautiful thing!
