Most lawn owners strive to achieve a healthier, cleaner lawn. The benefit of adding compositing to your lawn care regimen provides just that. If you feel intimidated by the process, aren't sure if the benefits are worth the effort, or don't know where to start, consider this your jump-start guide to lawn care composting.
Composting is the practice of creating organic fertilizer by breaking down plant materials such as leaves, plants, and food scraps. It can reduce your family's waste and result in your lawn being healthier, cleaner and greener. According to the EPA, composting enriches the soil, suppresses plant diseases and pests, reduces your need for chemical fertilizers, and lowers your carbon footprint by reducing methane emissions from landfills.
Instead of buying expensive fertilizers and pesticides, you can save money while helping the planet by simply letting nature work its magic!
The rich organic material produced by composting encourages plant growth, even in dry climates. It's an easy and cost-effective way to keep your lawn looking healthy and green.
You can do your own composting with either an indoor or outdoor backyard process. While it sounds like a lot of work to make compost happen in your yard, it doesn't have to be! All you need is the space outside your house—like a backyard or garden area—or an indoor composting bin, and some tools that you likely already have around the house.
Composting is a great way to get rid of your kitchen scraps, which can otherwise add up to a lot of waste and pollution. Common scraps include vegetable and fruit peelings, eggshells, coffee grounds, coffee filters, paper towels, and pizza boxes. You can also use your yard waste, including raked leaves, grass clippings, and non-diseased dead plants.
When composting your yard waste, such as grass clippings, mix them with a small amount of soil containing microorganisms to help decompose the organic matter. According to the University of Minnesota, grass clippings are excellent additions to a compost pile because of their high nitrogen content. However, you'll want to mix them with other, dry materials such as straw or dry leaves to cut down on bad odors from anaerobic decomposition.
According to the Ground Guys, a landscape and lawn care services company, you do not want to use waste items composed of dairy products, fats and oils, meat or bones, or pet waste. Adding these sorts of things can attract pests, rodents, or disease, and make for a bad stench of compost. They also recommend maintaining a compost pile ratio of 4 parts "brown" ingredients for everyone part "green" ingredients. The brown ingredients include things like dead leaves or cardboard, while green ingredients are more of the kitchen scraps, such as vegetable peelings. Both are high in carbon.
For backyard compost, you will place these items in a pile and continue to add more until the pile reaches a height of about three feet. Rotate end-over-end with a pitchfork or shovel every few days or weeks. You should expect this process to take between six months to two years depending on how much organic material you're trying to break down.
While composting is a great way to reduce garbage and carbon emissions, the benefits don't stop there. It can also be immensely beneficial to your lawn.
A healthy lawn should have at least 30% organic material and compost provides that. This material helps to fertilize the soil and allows it to retain the moisture needed for better lawn growth. It breaks up heavy soil, which is particularly beneficial if your dirt is clay-heavy or sandy and too compacted for plant roots to penetrate. It also encourages beneficial microorganisms and worms to live on your lawn which helps to convert organic matter to usable nutrients for your lawn and plants.
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