Soil is basic to any garden. That's not a problem if you live on the ground, but apartment dwellers sometimes have to carry their soil up flights of stairs, and it's heavy. Instead, why not make--and plant in--compost? James Murez, the manager of Venice Farmers Market, says that making your own soil is as easy as saving your garden garbage. Composting is a wonderful way to recycle garden debris back into the soil. Compost piles can be fancy or plain, and a variety of small commercial compost bins look good and work well. To begin, you'll need to cut your garden clippings into small pieces. A grinder is a wonderful aid for that part of the job, but it isn't necessary. You'll build the pile from "green" (nitrogen-containing) material and "brown" (carbon-containing) materials. If you don't have dry leaves (a brown material) available, substitute dry, shredded newspaper. Keep the pile damp but not wet--like a wrung-out sponge--and turn it frequently to provide plenty of air. The more often you turn the pile, the sooner you'll have finished compost. But even if you never turn the pile, you'll eventually get compost--it just takes longer. As people in the gardening community say, "Compost happens." When you turn the pile, you'll notice that the material is beginning to break down into smaller, darker particles: That's compost. If you like, you can sift the pile before using the compost or just use the smaller particles you find on the bottom and throw the big chunks back to decompose further. Don't add meat or dairy products to the pile or manure from meat-eating animals. Finished compost can be used as potting soil, as a top-dressing for container plants or as an amendment for existing planting beds. Tip: - Place mulch mats around the base of young trees to prevent weed growth, reduce moisture loss and provide a buffer zone to keep mowers and string trimmers from getting too close. Water goes right through the mat. You can place a layer of loose mulch over the mats to make them look better, if you choose. Mats come in different sizes to fit all trees.
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