Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. Compost is known by gardeners everywhere to be the best insurance you can have for a great garden. But making your own gardener s gold has acquired a stigma it doesn t really deserve. Successful composting requires four things: carbon, nitrogen, water and oxygen. A good way to remember how to keep a balance between carbon and nitrogen is to think of them as brown and green. Brown materials are things with lots of fiber like straw, fallen leaves or woody plant stalks. Green materials are things with lots of nutrients like kitchen scraps and lawn clippings. Try to keep a balance of three parts brown to one part green. Contrary to popular belief, composting is not the same as rotting, and it shouldn t be smelly. Keep it moist but not soggy and turn it every week or so to keep it processing evenly. Avoid attracting animals by keeping it tightly covered and don t compost meat or fatty kitchen scraps. Even in colder climates, you can compost year-round. Add kitchen scraps even if they freeze and leaves and lawn clippings when you ve got them. For composting to happen quickly, the pile needs to be about a cubic yard of material. Too small and it won t heat up. Plastic tumbler type composters provide the fastest compost, but you can also just use wire bins covered with a sheet of plastic or a tarp. If you don t have a good place for a compost bin, try sheet composting. You can spread shredded materials up to 6 inches thick over your garden beds in the fall, till them in and let it all process until you plant again in the spring. No commercial fertilizer, even organic, can provide the range of nutrients, enzymes and helpful microorganisms that compost provides. It s impossible to over fertilize with compost. And it puts worms and other insects to work for you as laborers in your soil improvement project. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Building and maintaining a compost heap is a great way to reduce organic waste and to make rich compost for your plants and gardens.

Angela Polo and Ken Micklow are on hand to show Bob the sustainable plantings selected for the Punta Gorda home. Polo shows Bob the firebushes selected for the water side of the garden because they are dwarf varieties that will not block the water views but will attract butterflies. Micklow shows Bob how the vegetable garden is built with interlocking anchor blocks and erosion cloth to prevent the rich humus mixture from seeping out of the raised bed. The soil is a mix of compost, peat moss, bark, and dolomite. This sunny spot will house tomatoes, peppers, onions, and herbs that will thrive in the heat and sun. Craig Harmer from Gardens Alive brings natural plant and animal products that are suited to specific plants to enhance the soil and promote growth. These soil mixes are completely unprocessed meals and protein blends developed for each plant. The pesticide applications are natural pyrethrins and canola oils that target specific pests. Even snails are eradicated with Escar-Go! Composting is also encouraged through the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program. Polo adds that composting clippings, trimmings, and kitchen vegetable waste will build soil enhancers and microbes to enrich the gardens and plantings.

Bob checks out the sloping bank that comes from the Western red cedar deck to the yard. Salvaged granite curbs serve as steps set into the bank, leading to the lawn. Foster explains that the gardens will be green, with junipers and yews for low maintenance, varying height, and deep green coverage. She also shows Bob the batch composter for making rich mulch or "black gold" for the plants and gardens. The gardens are dressed with two inches of pine mulch to keep the weeds down and the moisture in the soil. She closes with a self-watering window box that will complete the low-maintenance gardens and flowering boxes on the new deck.

…is a decision you will be happy with for many years to come. You know you can count on Sears to complete your home improvement project with high quality materials, workmanship and installation. And by calling Sears you know you don’t have to worry…

…is a decision you will be happy with for many years to come. You know you can count on Sears to complete your home improvement project with high quality materials, workmanship and installation. And by calling Sears you know you don’t have to…

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