Mulch and compost are among those magic, dark secrets of gardening <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Last year I mulched from the compost heap<\/a>, something I felt very smug about at the time but less so in the heat-stricken summer that followed, when it became apparent that my compost wasn\u2019t \u2013 yet \u2013 as potent as the well-rotted horse manure I\u2019d used the year before.<\/p>\n
This year, with the garden in the midst of hard landscaping upheaval, I\u2019ve bitten the bullet and invested in Dalefoot\u2019s Lakeland Gold \u2018Clay-Buster\u2019 \u2013 a peat-free soil<\/a> conditioner that I\u2019ve heard is well-worth the price tag. I\u2019ll be applying a layer once the contractors have moved out and the plants have been put into the new beds. I\u2019ve redesigned the garden with dry summers<\/a> in mind. Mulching well \u2013 now but in spring too \u2013 is as key as the planting palette as it helps plants retain moisture<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Technically, you can mulch with all sorts: old grass clippings, leaf mould, mushroom compost, wood chippings. It\u2019s essentially about funnelling organic matter into\nthe soil to feed the plants that will grow there next year. It may sound simple, and unsexy, but I think that\u2019s exactly why people get more obsessed with compost and mulching the more they garden. Raising a bed of annuals<\/a> from seed to bombast in half a year? That\u2019s easy in comparison to keeping a perennial herbaceous bed looking good season in, season out. Mulch and compost are among those magic, dark secrets of gardening that require persistence, knowledge and experience. They\u2019re where it all begins.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not there yet. My compost bay aspirations are destined for another garden <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
People often realise this after having grown for a few seasons \u2013 perhaps in a container garden or even on a balcony \u2013 and it can be life-changing. I suspect Bette Midler wasn\u2019t joking when she said that the epiphany, the \u2018kind of transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your place in the big picture\u2019 she\u2019d spent her life waiting for occurred as a result of her first compost heap. To put food scraps and deadheadings<\/a> in and get goodness out is one thing; to realise what you grow is part of\na larger, closed-circle system is quite another.<\/p>\n

The first six months were a disaster: I created a sticky, lumpy goo that smelled like farts <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
I\u2019m not there yet. My compost bay aspirations are destined for another garden: my veg peelings and cardboard boxes go in a 200-litre Aerobin, which I tucked into the paved nook around the side of the house before I did anything else in the garden. While it\u2019s a good start, it\u2019s not always large enough to accommodate my waste nor feed the garden. Plus, the first six months were a disaster: I created a sticky, lumpy goo that smelled like farts. But in time (and a generous offering of chicken poo and sawdust from a friend in the countryside), the compost crumbled. When something fails in the garden, gets nibbled to bits or cut back, it ends up here. In the compost, it gets another chance. I like knowing that it\u2019ll return to the soil, where it can contribute in another way to make something else beautiful.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read all of Alice Vincent\u2019s previous columns here,<\/a> and subscribe to Gardens Illustrated<\/em> <\/a>to get them delivered to your door.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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