With the holidays getting closer and closer, you might be surprised to find us talking about composting right now, but here we are; fall is, after all, the season of leftovers! Fall composting is one more easy chore you can get wrapped up before Thanksgiving and a fantastic way to transform those fallen leaves and landscape scraps into something magical for next year's garden. Here's how! 

The Benefits of Fall Composting for Your Bettendorf Garden

Fall composting offers a ton of benefits for your garden's soil health, including, but not limited to:

• Improved Soil Structure: Compost helps improve your soil's structure and turns it loamy and well-aerated, which allows plant roots to more easily penetrate and access essential nutrients and water.
• Enhanced Water Retention: Compost acts like a sponge, increasing your soil's water-holding capacity. This increased capacity helps keep your plants hydrated for longer and reduces the need for frequent watering.
• Nutrient Enrichment: Your compost is teeming with essential nutrients for plant growth, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. By adding compost, you're providing your garden with a steady source of organic, eco-friendly nourishment.
• Disease Suppression: Healthy soil leads to healthy plants, which are more resistant to diseases and pests. The beneficial microorganisms in compost can also help ward off harmful pathogens.
• Reduced Dependency on Chemical Fertilizers: As your soil becomes richer through composting, you'll find yourself relying less and less on chemical fertilizers, reducing your environmental impact.

How to Build Your Fall Compost Pile

Not all compost is made the same! Here's how to build a compost pile that is sure to produce premium-quality, soil-boosting compost for your garden this fall:

Balancing Your Compost Pile

A well-balanced compost pile is the key to success, so you'll want a healthy mix of "browns" and "greens" in your compost bin. Browns are carbon-rich materials like dried leaves and straw, while greens are nitrogen-rich materials like grass clippings and kitchen scraps. Achieving the right balance ensures efficient decomposition.

Leaves: Nature's Perfect Compost Ingredient

When gathering your ideal materials for homemade compost, don't forget about all those fallen leaves! Leaves are nature's perfect compost ingredient, providing carbon and aeration to your pile. Shred or chop them up before adding them to the mix for faster decomposition. This can be done easily by going over them once or twice with the lawn mower. 

Composting with Seasonal Kitchen Scraps

Instead of tossing your kitchen scraps in the trash, make them a part of your daily composting routine. Fruit and veggie peels, coffee grounds, and eggshells make excellent additions to your compost pile, but you'll want to avoid adding meat, dairy, and oily foods, as they can attract unwanted pests.

Managing Temperature and Moisture

Without proper moisture and temperature management, your compost pile can quickly become a soggy mess or a chilly graveyard of organic matter. To avoid these pitfalls, keep your compost pile moist, like a wrung-out sponge, and monitor its temperature to ensure it's warm but not scorching. A thermometer can help you strike this perfect balance.

Keeping Your Compost Active and Healthy in Cooler Weather

As the weather cools down, your compost pile's production will likely start to slow, too, but fear not! There are ways to keep it active and healthy throughout autumn. Turn the pile regularly to introduce oxygen, and insulate it with straw or a tarp to retain warmth. A thriving compost pile means richer soil in the spring!

Winterizing Your Compost Pile

As winter approaches, it's essential to winterize your compost pile. You can continue adding materials, but the decomposition process may slow down significantly with freezing temperatures. To prevent freezing, insulate your compost bin with straw or leaves. Alternatively, you can collect kitchen scraps in a covered container and store them in a warmer area until spring.

Using Your Compost

Before you start spreading your compost on your garden beds, you'll want to make sure it's fully cured. Cured compost has a dark, earthy smell and crumbly texture. If it's not quite there yet, just give it a bit more time. When applying your compost, make sure to spread it evenly over your garden beds, and remember that less is more; a thin layer of compost, about half an inch to an inch thick, is all you need to give your soil that much-needed boost! 

 

And just like that, you're a composting pro! By composting your summer clean-up debris properly to enrich your soil, you're taking significant steps toward sustainable gardening practices and helping your Iowa garden thrive year-round. 

If you're ready to take fall composting seriously this season, come visit us at Wallace's Garden Center for the friendly, expert advice you've come to count on and the quality products we know you love. Happy composting, Bettendorf!