Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Jun 06, 2009 1:13 pm Dear All, Hope you all have a great weekend ahead!!! We planted quite a bit of succulent plants in front of our front house garden bed. Just wondering if we put Organic compost as topping (rather than mulch or pebbles) is it better for the plants? underneath the garden bed we have topped up garden soil. We like the idea of organic compost as Fu always say " feed the soil, not the plants" but a bit hesitant re the "messy" look of compost. Please kindly any suggestions? Kind regards, S & T Re: Re : Organic Compost At Front Garden Bed 2Jun 06, 2009 4:44 pm It will be excellent for the soil. However by only using compost you are going to increase evaporation at an alarming rate. You will be best served to have a thick layer of green mulch over the top. That's normally. Now you have succulents in there only(?) and they maybe prone to rotting in the winter months with rich organic soils around. If I were you I'd be putting down a nice thick layer of pebbles. Not a layer that just covers the soil because that will increase plant stress and evaporation. A layer of about 5-10cm thick will be ideal and keep the bases of the plants clear to prevent any rotting of the stems Rich organic composts are excellent when first building a garden bed. Dig it all through your existing soil with some hard work to a depth of at least 30cm and if you can do deeper, then that is great too. Once done and planted, green tree mulch is the single best mulch available. Get it from tree loppers. Then once that is done all the nutrients held in that plant mulch material returns to the soil and becomes available to the plants again Buy a chipper/ mulcher and any clippings can be put straight back onto the garden. That is better than a compost bin Get a worm farm going and use the "juice" that comes out as a liquid soil conditioner and the rest can be used elsewhere in the garden (click the mulch icon on the side ) http://www.greatgardens.info/video/grea ... videos.php Re: Re : Organic Compost At Front Garden Bed 3Jun 07, 2009 11:01 am Thanks Fu, These are very important info, wow!!! Have a great weekend, thank you again!!! Kind regards, S & T Re: Re : Organic Compost At Front Garden Bed 4Jun 09, 2009 11:36 am Fu Manchu .... If I were you I'd be putting down a nice thick layer of pebbles. ....... Get a worm farm going and use the "juice" that comes out as a liquid soil conditioner and the rest can be used elsewhere in the garden Layering of pebbles is a great idea. Thanks Fu! Rats dig our organic compost What I did before...I put the compost on tin can layering with a soil and just cover it with big stone so the rats could not dig it anymore. Then after a couple of weeks, I transferred the organic compost on our front garden with another layer of soil. Voila! The plants bloomed full of flowers after few weeks! Re: Re : Organic Compost At Front Garden Bed 5Jun 09, 2009 12:34 pm I'm not much of a fan of pebbles as some may have read from other posts of mine. Good in some cases though such as paving alternatives. In this case the succulents will be all good because that is what is wanted It is important to get thick layers of pebbles on just as you would mulch. 5-10cm thick. However by using pebbles, you will be compromising your ability to "feed" the soil. Something so vital in having a genuinely low maintenance garden. The worm casting juice will be as good as you can get for feeding the soil along with seasol, powerfeed and some molasses a few times a year In other words, liquid composts is all that can be used and that is only 1/2 of what a soil really needs. Re : Organic Compost At Front Garden Bed 6Jun 12, 2009 6:27 pm Dear All, Hello there, we finally done it today!!! The front garden bed is now officially mulched (no more messy garden). We have succulents and some dwarf nandina & some Armeria in front of the house, in the garden bed. Fell in love with Armeria. Anyone knows Red Gelato Livingstone Daisy? I think I saw one in neighbourhood, sooo vibrant so pretty. Went to many nurseries but could not find one. Then the front lawn currently topped up with Sandy Loam ready to lay turf in September. We are very tempted to lay conquest as it is on offer now but be good there kiddo, listen to Fu ,we wait till September for Zoysia or Buffalo. My neighbour just had Buffalo turf down 3 weeks ago, looks good even now in dormant. Sooo jealous!!! Thank you, have a great weekend!! S & T Fig Landscapes has produced an e-book and native plant index, available for purchase from their website. It's a great resource, full of inspiration and tips. Another… 1 12252 Our Bondi Greenwall was impressive from day one with advanced lush plants to provide a wow factor to this recently renovated living area. The boundary was less than 1… 0 15303 |