Compost and Soil

The crucial element to having beautiful lawns and gardens naturally is having healthy living soil that’s full of compost, good bugs, and microorganisms.

Keeping the soil environment in healthy balance is the biggest key to successful organic lawns and gardens, because when the soil is alive and functioning properly, it creates healthier, stronger plants. Soil is the most basic plant food. When plants are healthy they have natural defenses against pests and diseases. That’s why the health of the soil actually determines the health, vitality, and beauty of the plants.

Good growing soil should be full of organic matter, teeming with beneficial microorganisms, and squirming with earthworms and other insects that help soil ecosystems stay in balance.

It’s Alive Under There!

This complex soil-food web is made up of microscopic creatures that are inter-dependant in creating plant health. It really IS a bug’s life under there! Therefore, when weed and feed products or pesticides are applied, these toxic chemicals kill off the good bugs along with the bad, and that harms the soil/food web, which in turn weakens the plants. Healthy soil ecosystems also create more oxygen and soil-borne nutrients, and help plants retain water, increasing resistance to drought and heat; all reasons why healthy plants and grasses are simply much better at fighting off infestations of bad bugs, and recover faster from pest problems. This kind of balanced ecosystem creates a place that pests and diseases are just not going to thrive in.

Take Your Lawn Off Drugs

Using common lawn and garden products can develop a cycle of chemical dependency as the weakened plants appear to need more fertilizer, or more pesticides. It’s a downward spiral, leading to dead soil and poisoned plants, not to mention the human health affects of eating or touching those plants or grasses. A naturally healthy lawn or garden with living soil, can tolerate significant numbers of pests without even showing a lot of damage. It’s similar to a person having a healthy immune system; it’s easier to fight off infections!

Why Compost Is So Important

Kitsap County and Bainbridge Island soil is not very well suited to lawns and gardens. It usually consists of acidic topsoil over clay or gravelly subsoil which is a result of the original forest ecosystem that once covered this entire area. Acidic soil was perfect for growing native trees, rhododendrons and berry bushes, but not very compatible for growing lawns and roses. As Ann Lovejoy points out, “We’re all trying to grow a prairie grass ecosystem (lawns) in soil that was meant to grow a forest!”

Does this mean that Kitsap residents should give up on grass, ornamental gardens, or vegetables? Absolutely not! It just means that in order to grow these non-native plants, we need to amend our soil with compost or natural, slow release fertilizers. There are lots of great sources for manure and compost in this area, and it’s also easy to make your own. To make gardening work easier, consider landscaping with more native plants, which are adapted to our climate and our somewhat, deficient soil. See the links below for instructions!

We know that compost, aeration, and water build the health of the soil, but how?
Compost is more than a fertilizer; it’s the building block for creating a healthy soil ecosystem. Compost is a mixture of organic matter and beneficial organisms, sometimes equaling four billion per teaspoon! Good bacteria in soil emit a slime that binds soil particles together, along with fungi threads that also bind to create good soil structure. Having good soil structure improves water flow and airflow to the plant roots. The fungi and bacteria also become food for the good little bugs living in healthy soil, such as beneficial nematodes, arthropods, and worms.

Worm Bin

Amending Soil with Finished Compost

Established lawns--lay down compost once a year (spring or fall) in layers 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, and water it in. Another great alternative is an application of compost tea

New lawns--till about 4 inches of compost into 5 inches of soil before putting down the grass seeds.

Trees and Shrubs-- Lay down 1" of compost around trees, but stay one foot away from trunk out past the drip line. A 2" layer should be used for shrubs, once per year.

Preparing soil for new shrubs-- till it to a depth of 8 - 10 inches. The depth should be at least twice the width of the root ball. Then, apply a 4-inch layer of compost and mix it into soil. Very poor soil may require about 6 inches of compost instead.

Applying Compost

Gardens

Lay down about 1/2 to 1 inch of compost on top of the soil, and turn it in 2 – 4 inches into the top 10 inches of soil. For big fields, apply between 900 and 1200 lbs. per acre as needed, depending on how healthy the soil is.

To get soil ready for a new garden going in, till it about 8 - 10 inches deep. Lay down a 4-inch layer of compost and mix it into the soil really well. If your soil is of very poor quality, use 6 inches of compost instead, mixing most of it into the top 3 – 4 inches of soil.

FEEDING YOUR LAWN AND GARDEN WITH NATURAL FERTILIZERS

When you apply fertilizers, remember that you are feeding the soil too, not just the plants. The quick “junk food” fix of high nitrogen fertilizers do not actually help feed the soil at all. In fact, the whole soil-food web can be destroyed by applying synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. These can kill off the microorganisms in the soil; pollute your yard and any water nearby. This occurs when a heavy rain falls and washes the excess chemicals from the lawn into your stream or into Puget Sound. Feed the soil with organic, slow release fertilizers, made from natural ingredients like bone meal, blood meal, kelp meal, feathers, and alfalfa meals. These break down slowly, and feed the soil-food web organisms delicious nutrients, which they in turn pass on to your plants.

COMPOST TEA

This is a very popular product among gardeners, because it helps improve soil quality and the vitality of plants so much. It is a liquid extract of compost, aerobically brewed from all kinds of microbial foods and full of the beneficial organisms that plants love. These microbes help create healthy living soil by feeding other organisms in the soil-food web, and by turning organic matter into humus. Compost tea gets the soil food chain going, adding plant growth factors to the soil. It truly is health food for your plants! Also, when added to an existing compost pile, it speeds up the breakdown of plant material so you have rich, usable soil faster. Mostly, it is used on lawns and gardens for a myriad of benefits:

• Creates healthier plants by giving them nutrition
• Inoculates potting soil for healthier growth
• Improves water retention in soil
• Helps remediate soil damaged by harsh chemicals, or soil that is depleted or sterile
• Acts as a fertilizer on grass and on other foliage
• Helps reduce thatch in lawns, which is caused by a lack of nutrients in underlying soil
• Acts as a preventative fungicide on roses and other plants (can prevent black spot or powdery mildew)
• Increases the nutritional value of plants due to the increased availability of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids

Mulching Is Great For Gardens

Mulch is a great idea for most gardens. It is simply any material that is placed on top of the ground as a covering, but not turned into the ground. Some people like to mulch because they like how it makes their garden look, but most people mulch to protect their soil and to keep weeds down. There are many benefits from mulching:

• By covering the ground it shades out the weeds, so that they don’t receive enough light to grow. The ones that grow anyway are easier to pull out
• Mulch protects the ground from the effects of extremely hot and cold weather
• It increases moisture retention
• It reduces soil compaction, and can even prevent topsoil from eroding away.

You can water plants right through the mulch or you can place compost on top of the mulch, which will make its way down to the soil over time. Organic mulch material will decompose over time, so it should be replaced to keep the right thickness. New material can just be added right on top of the old, so it’s easy.

TYPES OF MULCH

There are many other materials besides compost, which may be used as mulch. Many people use:

• wood bark or chips, or even pine needles
• newsprint,
• cardboard
• peanut, pecan or walnut shells
• shredded leaves, hay or straw
• crushed rock

Mulch

You can experiment, but remember that it's always best to use organic materials. Just keep in mind the fact that pine-type materials will add more acidity to the soil, which can harm certain plants, although rhododendrons love acidic soil. For the people concerned about nitrogen depletion, Master Composters says that as long as the partially decomposed matter stays on top of the soil, there is no damaging nitrogen leaching. That is another reason why they recommend not tilling mulch materials into the ground, although many people lay one inch of compost on top of the soil before they mulch. Their web site is full of more detailed information on mulch and compost, so please see the link below.

For Further Information

www.metrokc.gov/soils

www.kitsapgov.com/sw/compost.htm

www.mastercomposter.com for the most comprehensive guide to composting

www.soilsoup.com

www.lawnjockey.net/composttea.htm

www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm
/recycle/Tea/tea1.htm

www.soilfoodweb.com

This project is funded by the City of Bainbridge Island and by Washington State Department of Ecology’s Public Participation Grant.