You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
Hi. I'm fairly new to gardening and composting. I loved your article. In my yard, I have a big pile of vegetable scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, chicken manure, leaves, old plants with dirt, etc. It's just laying there in a big pile. Every now and then I go out there and turn the pile and water it down. One of these days we'll get some kind of container. I like the pallet idea. Here's a question for Caleb: how can you tell if a plant is "burned" from too much compost? What does it look like? Yellow? Brown? Black? Soft and wilted? Crispy? Thanks again for the great article!
Mine that I know had fertilizer burn turn black, crispy and drop their leaves, but I would imagine that it would depend on the type of plant. I severely burned my katsura tree last spring, all the leaves dropped then about a month later it put out some new leaves, still looked sickly, but Im hoping for a full recovery. Incidentally everything else in that bed responded with lush new growth; so I think katsura is very sensitive to fertilizer.
I hope this helps, also remember the longer your compost sits the less nitrogen will be in it and therefore you can apply more safely. Also if in doubt you can try the bean trick, if it burns then be careful on how much you apply.
