Category: Composting

First reccy on a new job

A very large house with a small garden area, embedded on a densely housed hill in CBD.
The first job was to see what was involved in refreshing the garden area. We took photos of the various areas, cleared the weeds, pruned the very old rose right back and created a large compost pile.
Hover over the photos for explanations.

Weeds in area in front of house. Left of upward path. Not sure if this is client's property

Area between our property and next door. No-one's land?

Still behind the house, looking along the wall

Ivy growing over shed can get into cracks and affect building integrity

View from behind the house. Large dead tree

The very very old climbing rose is now cut back.

Area on rhs facing house. Has an olive tree and rosemary in it. We're considering creating a Mediterranean garden here as it already has suitable plants and is very dry.

The rhs area from the deck. Imagine this with no weeds and some colour

The compost pile we started under the stairs. we're looking at options to contain this.

Looking down to utility area. Weeds to be sprayed

The lhs garden has some natives in it, though they are very leggy as haven't been trimmed for some time.
We'll add to these.

Another view of lhs bed with rengas along the border and a straggly hebe, we cut several dead branches off it.

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Lazy compost

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Here's how I whip up some compost - it's the simplest recipe.

Find a spot in the garden to build your compost pile. It needs to get some rain and some sun.

Lay some cardboard on the area. It doesn’t need to cover the whole area. Earthworms like cardboard, and we want earthworms.

Then, add any of these things over the next few months:

Kitchen scraps: fruit and vege, cooking water, egg shells, serviettes, coffee grounds, tea bags. Pretty much anything you’d eat, except meat.
Weeds – not pest plants, see Weedbusters
Twigs (help aerate the pile)
Leaves
Earth clods to introduce some microorganisms
Wood ash. You can chuck meat bones on the fire
Cardboard, paper
Vacuum cleaner dust, pet fur.

Every month or so, visit the beach (not a marine reserve) and fill a wool bag or two with any types of seaweed. Chuck it on the heap.

Continue building the pile.

Nasturtium seeds thrown on the pile have grown. They too will be compost when they get in the way of my garden plan

After a few months, or when it gets high (as in tall - not stinky), turn it over. I move the pile to a space next to it (remember it’s lazy compost), using the biggest garden fork.

As you do this, you will see all the critters hard at work turning your waste into beautiful soil: black beetles, centipedes, hoppers, slaters, many red worms, and more.

Only a few of the hundreds of worms in the compost

Where the heap was, you now have a weed-free patch ready to plant. And, you can use the healthy soil from the bottom of the compost pile. Win-win!

That’s lazy compost. Easy peasy! When you've used it you can plant where it was.

Waste has decomposed nicely. And a bonus avocado plant.

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First reccy on a new job

Lazy compost

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