Compost Corner

Compost - heaps of interest

Peat - for years, every gardener's first choice for mulching or for soil improvement - is a rapidly dwindling natural resource and peat bogs an increasingly threatened wildlife habitat. Kew - including Wakehurst Place - largely suspended the use of peat in 1989, even though peat replacement technology was then in its infancy.

Today, all prunings and fallen leaves at Wakehurst are composted and there is also a joint enterprise with Ashdown Forest to compost bracken. The forest removes the accumulation of years of bracken waste to help its heather regeneration programme and Wakehurst benefits from a ready supply of compost for mulching and soil improvement.

Compost Corner allows a view into the compost heap complex with its turning and sorting machinery, and the haybale walls retaining heaps in varying stages of decomposition, from raw chippings to rich dark mulch.

At home, well rotted farmyard or stable manure are excellent soil conditioners and fertilisers; and mushroom compost is a good substitute, except for rhododendrons. Peat-free soil improvers and potting composts are readily available, while bark chippings and coconut products make good mulches. Recycling garden debris and organic kitchen waste in compost-makers or wormeries is good for the garden and relieves pressure on landfill sites - a worthy effort.

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