Tropical Fruit > Tropical Fruit Discussion
How can I improve the quality of the soil in my backyard?
Ethan:
Sounds like you are doing a great job already, if you want banana leaves or p-stems come by and we can tie them on the top of the car. :) They make great mulch.
-Ethan
Jacob13:
Hey Newgen,
I had the same problem with the soil at my place being so clay-like. So. everytime I cut the grass or there were lots of leaves to pick up, I would go over them with the lawn mower to pick. I would then dump all the grass and leaves I got from mowing onto the soil and then dig it in and turn it over into the soil. It works great. After a few times of doing this, the soil is no longer rock hard, it has a completely different composition, and you are recycling your green waste. Even ask your neighbors for their grass and leaf mower clippings; the more the better.
Again, you could just dump it on top, but I found I got better results by digging it in/burying it, as well as spreading it on top. You'll be surprised how quickly chopped up mowed grass and leaves decomposes. You'll get this wonderful black humus type material that is great for the soil. Within a few months, you'll have completely different soil. It does wonders for drainage as well. I'd leave the heavier yard clippings and green kitchen waste to compost bins though.
- Jacob
NewGen:
--- Quote from: Ethan on February 25, 2012, 01:57:17 AM ---Sounds like you are doing a great job already, if you want banana leaves or p-stems come by and we can tie them on the top of the car. :) They make great mulch.
-Ethan
--- End quote ---
My wife would kill me if I stuff her car full of banana leaves. ;D Wish I had a pickup truck.
Trung
NewGen:
--- Quote from: Jacob13 on February 25, 2012, 08:18:10 AM ---Hey Newgen,
I had the same problem with the soil at my place being so clay-like. So. everytime I cut the grass or there were lots of leaves to pick up, I would go over them with the lawn mower to pick. I would then dump all the grass and leaves I got from mowing onto the soil and then dig it in and turn it over into the soil. It works great. After a few times of doing this, the soil is no longer rock hard, it has a completely different composition, and you are recycling your green waste. Even ask your neighbors for their grass and leaf mower clippings; the more the better.
Again, you could just dump it on top, but I found I got better results by digging it in/burying it, as well as spreading it on top. You'll be surprised how quickly chopped up mowed grass and leaves decomposes. You'll get this wonderful black humus type material that is great for the soil. Within a few months, you'll have completely different soil. It does wonders for drainage as well. I'd leave the heavier yard clippings and green kitchen waste to compost bins though.
- Jacob
--- End quote ---
Thanks Jacob,
I can ask the grasscutting people to just dump their stuff on my yard, instead of hauling it away.
Trung
sultry_jasmine_nights:
I am in NE FL. Our soil is better than some parts of FL but still very sandy, especially on some parts of the property (almost 4 acres). We started composting our chicken manure from the coops. I keep pine shavings on the floors of my coops and in the nest boxes and then just add it all to the compost bin once a week. The pine chips break down very quickly into a rich black soil and the earthworms love it. We also add some of our chickens eggshells into the compost for added calcium as well as all the yard clippings, coffee grounds, etc.
You can go to Starbucks and they will give you coffee grounds in huge trash bags for free which you can also add to the compost pile.
Last year, we built some vermicompost bins underneath our rabbit hutches (even if you can't have chickens, you are likely to be able to have rabbits). We get a lot of nice worm compost from those bins which can be added to the garden or to your pots. Rabbit manure can go straight into the garden without even being composted...it doesn't burn the plants even when it is fresh. You can also make worm compost tea with it. If you have your own rabbits they are cheap to raise and make awesome cheap worm compost. It can be quite expensive in the stores.
Craigslist is a good place to get free horse, cow, or goat manure. Some zoos will also let you have it.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version