Floriferous Black Gold For Roses

When I was a young horticulture student in Northern California, in between classes my aged mentor employed me to care for his hybrid tea cutting roses. His garden featured at least thirty of them back in 1979 when spraying, pruning, and fertilizing was a continuous series of tasks all season long. Among the many lessons were important basics on rose nutrition. It was truly amazing how much standard rose food each of the plants needed to keep producing new buds without pause from May to October. In California the rose season is long, which demanded I feed on a regular schedule. Back then I used 16-16-16 synthetic granules and watched the plants go nuts…for a little while. Then they’d start petering out as the synthetic fertilizer leached further beyond the root zone every time I watered. Since then we’ve learned that the yo-yo diets of synthetic fertilizers are not beneficial to whole plant health. Growing roses organically can reduce the frequency of fertilizer applications because these nutrients release slower but remain in the root zone far longer. In addition, they contribute to overall soil fertility by stimulating microbes that boost rose plant immunity.

Composting,Black Gold For Roses

One of the easiest and most rewarding things that you can do to ensure that your roses are healthy and strong, is to top dress them with home made compost. Because it provides plant nutrients in a balanced and ready-to-use form and enriches the texture and structure of the soil, compost is truly black gold for your roses! Your gardening success depends on the health of your soil, and the health of your soil is directly related to whether or not you enrich it with compost. This rich, earthy substance is what remains after hundreds of different organisms including bacteria, fungi, worms and insects break down organic materials. Compost is the result of the activity of a myriad of tiny organisms that need two main compounds for their life processes – carbon for energy and nitrogen for growth and reproduction. As the differing organisms go through the organic materials, the byproducts undergo progressive decomposition and eventually most of the digestible material is consumed and transformed, leaving behind a rich soil amendment. Compost is an outstanding and invaluable source of organic matter for the home gardener. The benefits of a healthy garden will repay you many times over for the relatively small amount of work it takes to make your own compost. Garden soil that is regularly amended with compost will have improved soil texture and structure, increased water retention in sandy soils and loosened clay soils, control pH, feed helpful earthworms, control weeds, aerate the soil, retain moisture, provide healthier, more productive and more disease resistant plants, promote better drainage, provide soil nutrients, increase beneficial microorganism activity, provide mulch and recycle garden and kitchen waste. Can you ask for anything more?! Compost is indeed black gold for your garden. Furthermore, compost will warm the soil in the spring, stimulating plants to grow sooner in the season, and cool the soil in the summer allowing plants to perform better in the summer heat. Also, if you keep your garden well composted you will not need to water and fertilize as often. With all these beneficial reason to make your own compost, you can see why interest in composting has literally exploded in the last decade! The art and practice of composting is an ancient one – dating back thousands of years. The ancient Romans and Greeks deliberately piled animal manures and soil in such a way as to aid in decomposition. The Bible also speaks of it. The value of crushed bones, wool waste, wood ashes and lime is spoken of in old Arabic manuscripts. The Medieval church preserved the knowledge and composting continued through the Dark Ages, Renaissance and in the New World by the native Indian tribes and early European settlers. Since then, researchers and agricultural scientists have refined composting techniques and developed new products to make the process easier. In fact, for 2,000 years or more, composting and manuring were the only methods available for farmers to enrich their land and make it yield. It has only been since the nineteenth century that chemical fertilizers have been available For the backyard gardener, composting does not need to be laborious or time consuming. Effective compost can be done as simply as you wish. My first endeavors into composting were simply a heap of leaves and grass in the corner of our back yard. Another simple way would be to pound four wooden sticks or metal stakes into the ground and wrap with chicken wire. As far as the materials used, you can make it quite easily by simply recycling ordinary garden and kitchen waste from around your home. In fact, nearly anything that once lived is a candidate for your home compost pile. Grass clippings, chopped leaves, vegetable peelings, egg shells, pine needles, wood ashes, shredded paper (but not glossy paper), seaweed, hair clippings, sawdust (not cedar or black walnut) coffee grounds and tea bags, barnyard manures, alfalfa pellets and weeds (before they have developed seeds) are all excellent ingredients for your homemade compost. Remember to exclude human and pet excretement, meat products (they attract animals and pests) and diseased plants. Shredded organic materials heat up quicker and decompose faster. The organisms that break down organic materials need oxygen to live and reproduce, so it makes sense that the smaller the organic materials are the more they are exposed to oxygen, and consequently the quicker they break down and are decomposed. Even a pile as small as 3 square feet will be effective in rewarding you with wonderful compost for your garden. Whatever ingredients you choose to use in your pile remember to have a variety if possible. A more varied pile is likely to decompose quicker and maintain a higher internal temperature. As your pile starts to grow, turn it twice a week with a pitchfork and keep it damp but not wet. Turning the pile will aerate it and also move less decomposed matter into the center. As organisms start to break down all the layers, you will notice that the center of the pile becomes very hot. This is a sign that your compost is working! Finished compost is not soil but it is one of the most important ingredients to healthy soil. Add finished compost to your garden soil and work it in before you begin planting in the spring. Compost should never smell bad if you just follow a few simple rules. If you find that your compost pile has an unpleasant odor it is probably because of lack of air or an overabundance of nitrogen rich materials. First of all, make sure your pile receives at least a half-day of sunshine. The second thing would be to make sure you have the right mixture of ingredients to make your compost do the job its supposed to do, which is break down organic material into available nutrients for your garden. The third most important thing is to maintain moisture in your compost pile Ideally you should begin your compost pile by layering the organic materials. Be careful not to overuse any one particular ingredient as it may upset the balance that is needed to help the compost break down more quickly. Try and add green (nitrogen) and brown (carbon) matter in alternating layers. Anything dry is considered brown and anything wet like vegetable peelings and fresh mown grass is considered green. The simplest method for the home composter is to use roughly equal portions of carbon and nitrogen materials. Introducing air into your compost pile is very important as the more air you put in contact with the materials the more you stimulate microbial activity. Water is also essential in the composting process. Effective compost should be as damp as a wrung out sponge. Too much water will force the air out of the pile and cause it to smell and too little water will slow down the decomposition process. Test your pile by tightly squeezing a handful; if water comes out it is too wet A lot of home gardeners are concerned about the “perfect” mix or recipe for making effective compost. Don’t worry. Whether you arrange your pile in precise layers of nitrogen and carbon and turn it every day or whether you just throw in whatever you have and let it sit until it rots; either way the end result will be compost. It really all depends on how involved you wish to be and how quickly you want to use your compost. If you want your pile to decay quickly then you must take the time to chop up large fibrous materials and woody stalks and branches. Turn the pile and add carbon rich materials. As well it is a good idea to add a layer of soil over kitchen wastes so as not to attract flies and other animals. You will know that your compost is done when it becomes dark brown or black and resembles commercial potting soil, just lumpier. Keep your finished compost covered so it is not exposed to rain or snow or it will lose many of its nutrients. The outer portions of your pile that have not fully decomposed can be added to the next pile as a starter mix. Making compost is one of the most rewarding and satisfying activities a home gardener can be involved in. You are nurturing and enriching your soil and at the same time responsibly recycling your own home wastes. No wonder organic methods of cultivation, including composting have become so popular. Composting is truly BLACK GOLD for your garden!