Sydney Gardeners | Gardening Maintenance and lawn services

The ultimate guide to composting

tristan kavanagh — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 23:31:24 +0000

The ultimate guide to composting

What is compositing

Compost in the breakdown of organic matter under oxygen rich conditions. The result is a final compost product, that is earthy and a dark material, that is known as Humus or black gold. It’s a nutrient-rich fertilizer that can be added into the soil.

Each household can benefit from composting. Not only does it enrich your soil, it also reduces household waste by an average of 30%. This organic matter would otherwise be in landfill where it can’t efficiently break down and be put to its best use.

Composting is also good for the environment as it allows individuals to recycle organic matter into their garden and stops unnecessary landfill. Here at Sydney gardeners we use composting as a way to keep to recycle the natural waste we produce while also creating healthy nutrients for our gardens.

In this guide we will cover the following topics

What and where to compost
The secrets of a healthy compost pile

Compost Ratios
Simplest and easiest composting methods
Mistakes to avoid when composting

Recycle landfill waste

Landfills around the world are quickly filling up, one third of landfill matter is made up of organic matter. Composting helps divert this waste from landfill and replenishes the soil. Saving the space in landfill for things that should be there, not perfectly good compost material.

What to compost and where to compost

Each compost can be different and what you put in your compost depends on what compost you have. General rules do apply. All materials are either carbon or nitrogen based, obviously to a varying degree. Maintaining the balance between these two elements in your compost pile is essential. The balance however between these two isn’t a 50/50 balance, I talk about what has worked well for me a bit later on.

Your compost should be in an area that’s easy to access, this will encourage you to use it. Somewhere that gets enough sunlight as the sun provides heat that helps speed up the composting process.

Brown ingredients (carbon based)

Paper
Straw
Leaves
Wood Chips
Bark

Green ingredients (nitrogen based)

Fruit and veg scraps
Lawn clippings
Coffee grounds / tea bags

The secrets to a healthy comopost pile

Whilst many people are only thinking of composting their household waste, your yard waste can be an excellent addition to your compost pile. Branches, dried leaves, bark, are all carbon rich matter and suitable for your compost. Manures, Lawn clippings, kitchen waste and food scraps are nitrogen and protein rich matter. A healthy compost pile has more carbon than Nitrogen.

Compost Ratios

The ratio that I have found works well is one-third green and two thirds brown. This allows for oxygen to access the compost pile as the bulkiness of the brown materials leaves plenty of room. Having excessive amounts of nitrogen causes the compost pile to be far too dense, and may cause your compost to smell. Another way to combat this smell is to always cover Nitrogen-rich material (which can cause odours) with carbon rich material, which has an earthy smell, if you’re in doubt add more carbon.

The correct Carbon to nitrogen ratio in your compost

Carbon-rich matter is referred to as brown or browns whereas Nitrogen is referred to as Greens in gardening. It is essential to have the correct ratio of greens and browns in your compost to encourage healthy growth of your plants. The most common carbon-rich matter includes bits of wood, dried leaves, bark dust, brown paper bags, eggshells, stems and branches of plants.

All these substances provide a fluffy and light body for a good compost. Talking about the greens, Nitrogen-rich matter mostly includes waste from the kitchen, lawn clippings, green leaves and food scraps. These greens act as a raw material which produces enzymes in your compost.

What should be the correct ratio of greens and browns in your compost? As a general rule of thumb, the best ratio is to use one-third of nitrogen and two-thirds of carbon matter. The bulkiness of brown material is the reason behind this perfect carbon ratio.

Carbon provides the required oxygen to penetrate the organisms residing there. Whereas, excess of greens can result in a slow decomposing mass that becomes smelly and dense. Good compost hygiene is very essential when you are planning to maintain a healthy garden. Good compost will release odours in the open air if fresh greens are used.

What shouldn't go in the compost

Things that shouldn’t go in the compost are:

Bones, Fish, and any sort of meat, this will attract pests.
Don’t compost weeds and diseased plants
No pet manures
Sawdust is something I’ve used before, just make sure its spread around well and comes from wood that hasn’t been treated. Because these chemicals aren’t good for your compost pile.

Storing compost in the kitchen

A great way to store your kitchen compost rather than making constant trips to your compost pile is by placing it in a container with a lit under the sink, or somewhere out of site. This will allow you to constantly add to your compost pile, and once it reaches an appropriate size, put it into your compost.

Adding yard waste to your compost pile

Yard waste and general green waste can be an excellent addition to your compost pile, however different material compost at different rates, everything will break down eventually. To speed up the process, chop up large materials into smaller materials to allow for easier composting.

Composting leaves

If your property is always filling up with leaves. You can compost the pile of leaves by itself. For every foot or so of leaves include a layer of dirt, the pile should be damp enough that when you take a hand full and give it a squeeze a few drops come out.

Additionally, make sure the pile is not packed too tightly. If done right the pile will compost in 4-6 months, creating a dark and crumbly finish. Leaf compost is best used as organic soil amendment and conditioner. It doesn’t act well as a fertiliser because it is too low in nutrients.

How to get started composting

Start your compost on the ground. This will allow worms and other organisms to climb up into it and aerate the compost. Then they will be transported to your garden beds.

Firstly, before putting any compost down, lay a matt of small sticks or straw, this will help aerate the pile.

Add compost materials in layers, think of it to be a bit like lasagne, this is the most effective way to have it break down together. Dry materials are straw, leaves, sawdust pellets and wood ashes. If you have wood ashes, sprinkle in thin layers, or they will clump together and be slow to break down.

Add Manure. This can come in the form of green clippings such as grass clippings, clover, buckwheat and wheatgrass. Just any nitrogen source.

Keep the compost moist. Rain usually does this job well but if your compost pile is drying out i’d recommend giving it a quick water.

Cover. Often layers of straw or a tarp, both will help retain moisture.

Turn. Every couple of weeks grab a pitch fork and give your pile a quick turn. Aerating the pile adds oxygen. Once your pile is established, add new material by mixing it together rather than adding it in layers. Turning the compost pile is key to aeration and speeds up the composting process.

How long does it take

There is no correct answer for this question, as it depends on many factors. Some of the factors include

Location of your compost
Its size
The level of ripening your after
The level of moisture and aeration
How often you turn the pile

The simplest and easiest composting methods

Following are the four simplest and most amazing composting methods that you must try if you are a garden owner and garden lover.

“No-Turn” Composting

As the name suggests, in no turn composting, new material is added on top of the existing compost without turning the compost. The most tiring thing with composting is turning it from time to time to aerate the soil. Whereas in ‘no turn’ compositing you don’t have to turn the pile anymore for aeration.

The secret of no turn composting is thorough mixing of course material during pile formation. Due to this, the compost will be developed fast enough and will show excellent results. The nitrogen levels in No Turn compost are sometimes higher than the turned compost.

In ‘No Turn’ composting, fresh compost is taken from the bottom of the bin and new material is continuously added at the top layer.

DIY Compost Bin

The best way of composting is by making your own compost bin. It is the least expensive method and will give you wonderful results. You can use a heavy-duty garbage can and simply drill holes for aeration at 15cm gaps. The diameter of holes can range from 1.2 cm to 1.5 cm depending on the size of your garbage can. After that, you must fill the can with green and brown material in the above-described ratio. Stir and turn the pile in the bin after specified intervals of time to speed up the overall process. If the garbage can is equipped with a tight and secure lid then you must turn it and roll it over to evenly mix the compost.

Standard Compost Bins/Digesters

Another way is to use a compost Digester for your garden. Compost digesters are enclosed on top and sides but open at the bottom, so that they directly sit on the ground. They are just like regular bins turned upside down. Digesters are very common in residential areas due to small size. These digesters tend to discourage the presence of pests because of their unique design. These bins are also very reasonable in terms of cost but it becomes difficult when it comes to turning the pile. The process becomes slow due to this and it takes several months to produce the compost.

Tumblers

Out of all, the most efficient method to produce compost is using tumblers. In these containers, it is possible to maintain high temperature as compared to other methods. The reason behind this is the thick container which acts as an insulator. In some of the tumbler designs, there are paddles or spikes which prevent the compost to clump. Whereas other designs have holes at the end for aeration. This design significantly speeds up the composting process and produces a good quality compost.

A tumbler design provides the following benefits:

Keeps the compost neat and clean
Compost is present throughout the year due to elevated temperatures
Cannot be affected by dogs or rodents
It’s a speedy process to produce compost
Compost is odour free and is best for residential use

When your pile is ready

The compost is ready when it has turned into a brown almost crumbly texture, It will no longer smell like rotting vegetables but will smell like rich dark earth. The pile will have shrunk to half its original size and there is no evidence of the organic material you have put it.

If you’re unsure and want to test if your compost is done, grab a handful and put it in a sealed plastic bag. Smell the compost after 3 days, if it still smells dark and earthy it’s ready to go. If it smells sour, it will need more time to recompose. Be careful not to use unfinished compost as it can damage plants. Immature compost can also introduce weed seeds as well as root-damaging organic ads.

How can I use my compost

Once your compost is ready for use, there are many ways you can use it. It can be used as mulch around the garden, used as potting mix for plants, used as a fertiliser, or you can just use it to help enrich your soil around your garden.

Mistakes to avoid during composting

Using green waste in large chunks should be avoidable as it takes your compost longer to break down larger pieces of green waste, if you are in this position, the best solution is to get a chipper/shredder, this will turn things into smaller pieces making it easier to break down.

Maintaining the right ratio is important as it means the compost will work effectively, keeping roughly two thirds of the compost as carbon rich material will keep the compost functioning at its best ability.

If your compost is odorous, this is from not covering waste that has been deposited in the compost. When food waste is added to the pile, be sure to add some fresh grass or leaves on top of it and turn the pile immediately. This will keep the odours away.

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Ways to reuse plastic in your garden

tristan kavanagh — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 07:00:00 +0000

How you can be reusing plastic in your garden

In this day and age, there is plastic everywhere and far too much of it. The majority of plastic can’t be properly recycled and sits in either landfill or our oceans. There are a variety of ways to cut down our plastic use, such as creating our own veggie garden.

If you’ve ever walked into the grocery store, tons of fruit and veggies are wrapped in plastic even though the wrapping could be paper. Starting your own veggie garden is a step forward but what about the plastic you can’t avoid?

In this guide, we’ll show you how you can reuse everyday plastic packaging throughout your garden. There are a variety of creative ways, we can be constantly reusing plastic products in the garden but also in other areas of our lives.

Recycling plastic bottles

One of the most common plastics for any family to accumulate is plastic bottles. Especially the larger one and two-litre bottles. Luckily they make awesome pot plants. There are a variety of ways you can use them, you can always find new and creative ways in the garden or at home.

Clear bottles are ideal as it looks most natural as all you can see is the dirt. Cutting them into different shapes and sizes will mean there will be dozens of different ways to use them.

Plastic pot plants

I can’t emphasize enough just how many ways you can reuse the same plastic bottle. There are literally dozens of creative techniques that can be applied here.

Hanging pot plants

It can be so interesting to see the variety of different ways people use the exact same bottle. Something that looks great is hanging pot plants made from plastic bottles. Although the colors used in plastic bottles can be tacky and I think it’s best to repaint colored bottles to a more suitable color.

Using plastic bottles as watering tools

As your garden gets bigger, it can begin to take up a lot of your time. Finding new and improved ways to maximise your efficiency is hugely important.

Just ask any local farmer. Some of these methods will be more effective depending on the climate you live in.

For example the method below is fairly simple and a good way to water plants using only rain water. After a big rain, the plastic bottles will accumulate water. Which you can then choose to release on an especially hot day.

Something to consider is the plastic tubes from the bottle to the plant that have a simple open and close system.

This is something you should be able to purchase at your local hardware store or online. Either way it’s a great method to maintain your plants only with rain water.

Watering hard to reach places using plsatic bottles

Now this method isn’t necessary for most circumstances. It’s a very cool idea, but it’s application for most gardeners won’t be needed. Although sometimes a plant or tree may begin growing under an area that prevents water from reaching its roots. This could be a building, shed, or concrete area. Whatever it is, this method of reaching the roots using a plastic siphon works well. A pvc pipe attached to the bottom can be just as effective.

Protect seedlings using mini green houses

Growing a new batch of plants can be especially difficult in the beginning, in their infant stage, they are susceptible to various pests that can easily cause them to wither and die. Not to mention storms, or various people or things stomping on them.

For my new seedlings, if I have any spare smaller plastic bottles I slice the bottom of the bottle off, and use it as a shield for any of my baby plants. Remove the lid so it receives air and a place where you can water it from.

While pests can get to your seedling from the top of the bottle it definitely does hinder their efforts. Even if your babies aren’t needing protection, plastic bottles can act as perfect green houses, if I have any lying around simply slice off the bottom and pop it over one of my seedlings.

Bottle tower gardens

Bottle tower gardening is one of my favorite concepts and just goes to show all the different ways you can use a plastic bottle in your garden. It’s easy to set up and looks phenomenal.

In the video above, it explains how you can create a bottle tower garden, although until your plants properly grow it will look like a tower of plastic full of dirt. Here’s another greate guide for building a bottle tower garden.

Plastic bottle bird feeders

Although it’s arguable if bird seed in the long term is actually healthy for native birds. I’ve decided to include it anyway.

There are lots of ways to create your own bird seed instead.

The bird feeder is a simple concept, cut four holes in total for the spoons to stick out of. Two at the top and two at the bottom, like in the photo below. Place the spoons in them until they’re snug.

Then fashion the hole where the head of the spoon is sticking out a little larger. Fill it up with bird seed, and you’ll see the majority of the bird seed is protected and only a small portion of it is actually outside the bottle at anyone time.

Making herbs self sufficient

Improving our gardens efficiency is always ideal. Would it be possible to make watering your garden a thing of the past? well not quite, but definitely close. Using a single one litre plastic bottle you can create self-sufficient herbs.

Cut the top of the bottle a quarter way as seen in the photo, turn it upside down and have the mouthpiece sitting at the bottom. Fill it with dirt and plant your herb. Over time the herbs roots will be attracted to the bottom and make their way through the mouth piece.

Plastic from the grocery store for your garden

Shallow trays to grow Microgreens

You know those trays that come with sliced meat, such as pastrami, ham or salami? These same trays are perfect for growing microgreens, one thing to note is that they aren’t too shallow. Although generally you can find ones that will provide enough size for microgreen roots.

Multi cell trays

Something I always thought was a bit silly about garden stores was that their multi cell trays were always made of plastic. Surely there could be a better alternative to storing store bought plants.

Instead of purchasing seedlings in multi cell trays from your local hardware store. Use yogurt containers, or anything similar to the dimensions of multi cell trays. Buy the seed of the plant you want to grow, and then plant them yourself in the trays you received when purchasing other products from the grocery store.

This method is awesome because you save money, by not buying seedlings, you save plastic because you didn’t purchase seedlings, and you reused some plastic you already had lying around.

Create your own seed or gravel trays

Buying seed or gravel trays really isn’t that necessary, if you eat meat on a regular basis. The trays that steaks or chicken fillets are packaged in, make PERFECT alternatives.

There is literally no difference between a seed tray and the tray that delivers your chicken breast. Again, this method saves you money, time and plastic. What more could ask for?

keeping birds at bay

If you’re like me, birds eating the fruit your trees and plants produce is a weekly battle, some success I’ve had is using old cd’s as deterrents. Hanging old cd’s from the branches of a tree or around plants you wish to protect can work wonders.

In conclusion

There are tons of different ways we can all reduce our plastic usage, through buying less plastics to reusing them again and again. One positive about these products is since they can’t be recycled we can reuse them dozens of times.

What bugs me the most is how ignorant grocery stores are these days, The majority of fruit and veggies are wrapped in plastic, when it is most definitely not necessary for everything to be wrapped in plastic. Although we can all reduce our plastic footprint the next best thing is making larger companies and corporations follow suit.

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How you can improve the biodiversity in your garden

tristan kavanagh — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 00:22:48 +0000

How you can improve the biodiversity in your garden

Attracting Australian wildlife isn’t an easy task. Natural wildlife visiting our homes and gardens is a rarity that we all enjoy. In this guide, we’ll show you how to increase biodiversity and attract some of the unique wildlife Australia has to offer.

When building your garden, the main factors for increasing biodiversity is providing shelter from predators, a water source, plants that attract prey, plants that provide food and adjoining bushland to your property.

In this guide we'll cover the following topics

Creating habitat for good insects
Making your garden a hub for butterflies

Attracking different bird species
Making your garden reptile friendly
Easy tips to improve overall biodiversity

Why you need insects in your garden

Having a variety of insects in your garden provides a huge range of food for all species. A large variety of birds, possums, rodents, and mammals all depend on insects for food. When enticing insects to our garden we’ve had a lot of luck planting wildflowers and flowering herbs. They generally have the main attributes that attract insects which are nectar and pollen.

Our Favorite plants, veggies and herbs to attract insect life

Waratah
Carrots
Dill
Flowering Gum
Gum tree
Lavender
Grevillea

Parsley
Native blue bell
Everlasting daisies
Thyme

Building your insect hotels

In the winter insects need a place to stay warm and hibernate. It can be a nesting place and the great opportunity is that when spring arrives all the insects come out of hibernation in your garden.

The insect hotel is a simple thing anyone can build. Just use what you have available. You want the critters to find little nooks and crannies for them to get comfortable in. Make sure the hotel provides a dry place and is located in the bushes.

Making your garden a hub for butterflies

Once the caterpillar grows into a butterfly your garden will be a constant food source, until then you will need to diversify what you grow. Keep away from pesticides or chemicals, while they may make your life easier, they definitely won’t make butterflies. It can have a negative effect on the entire ecosystem and a passing butterfly will think twice before he lands on one of your flowers.

Plants that provide food and cover for caterpillars

Native laurels
Kangaroo grass
Lomandra
Wattles
Purple coral pea
Running Postman
Native Laurels
Goodenia
Native violets

Bush peas
Purple Fan Flower
Native Cassia

Nectar Rich Flowers are the key to a butterflies heart

Plant, nectar rich flowers in sunny parts of your garden. butterflies love the sun and having their food source in direct sunlight can be quite enticing.

Ideally, provide them some form of shelter as they’re light creatures and can be easily carried by the wind not to mention if a potential food source is getting windy they might reconsider lunch at your garden.

While butterflies do love the sun, their next favorite thing is a quick dip to cool off. Damp sand or mud is ideal, somewhere on the ground where they have access to moisture. Digging a shallow hole and periodically filling it in with water will be a perfect hang out spot for your local butterflies. Just make sure it stays moist.

Another easy tactic to make your garden ever enticing for our fluttery friends is to place a flat stone or rock in direct sunlight. Just like our slithery friends, they enjoy a nice bath in the sun. Most commonly known of all, bright colored plants and flowers entice butterflies, our lists found below contain all colors of the rainbow.

Goodenia species
Kangaroo paw
Grevillea
Tea tree
Lavender
Wattle
Melaleuca
Bottlebrushes

Banksia
Wildflowers
Eucalyptus

Attracting bird species to your Garden

It’s difficult for us to give specific recommendations on what birds you can attract to your garden, simply because different areas and geography naturally have different species of bird life. That’s why we’re keeping it rather general and recommend you research what local birds live in your local area.

Diversify what you grow

Growing native trees that don’t provide a food source but offer cover for bird species is another highly important factor. Many trees that bear seeds, nectar or fruit, offer little cover from predators. Make sure there are large native trees in your garden or growing in your garden, that birds can use as a lookout and cover before they descend on their lunch.

Grow Native Trees that provide food sources and cover

The vast majority of birds depend on trees for food, nesting, and shelter. Of course, any trees can provide nesting and shelter, few can provide food. The chance of birds choosing your trees for nesting and shelter is low but growing trees that provide them with a natural abundance of food is a sure chance they’ll come in flocks.

Plant Native trees that provide nectar seeds and fruit, plants, and trees that offer nectar will also attract insects, which in turn attracts more birds.

Try to only grow native species of trees, growing nonlocal trees can attract some of the more aggressive bird species that drive away from the locals, one example is the hugely annoying Yellow-Throated Minder Bird or the Indian Minder Bird.

A variety of local plants and trees in your garden will diversify the species that come. Ground foragers such as finches and wrens are more likely to be interested if there are grasses around the edges, as well as bird species that chew roots.

Small shrubs are preferred by nectar-feeding birds, and larger trees are used by birds that prey on reptiles. Larger trees will also attract the lorikeet looking for seeds.

Be wary of birdseed

The problem is birdseed can be harmful to whoever consumes it and it’s also not sustainable for attracting birds. Planting trees and plants that naturally produce seeds is a far better way to keep the locals coming back for more. Planting native grasses can also provide a food source for birds such as the Red-browed finch and Crested Pigeon.

Nectar Feeding birds

New Holland honeyeaters
Eastern spinebills
Lewin’s honeyeaters
Rainbow lorikeets
Red wattlebirds

Nectar providing trees

Grevillea
Banksia
Bottle Brushes
Kangaroo paw
Wattle
Eucalyptus

Granivores or seed eaters

Birds that mostly survive off seeds are generally the most popular bird to attract simply because they’re the easiest due to purchasing birdseed from stores these include.

Parrots
Crested pigeons
Sulphur crested cockatoos
Crimson rosellas
Galahs

Naturally produce seeds

Australian Acacia
Bursaria
Correa
Hardenbergia
Melaleuca
Wallaby grasses
Ruby saltbush

Multi purpose food sources

Acacia
Banksia
Eucalyptus
Grevillea

Hakea
leptospermum
Melaleuca
Sweet bursaria
Bottle Brush

Insect eating bird species

For birds, whose diet is predominantly made up of insects such as robins, wrens, treecreepers you’ll need to grow trees and plants that will attract insects.

Everlasting daisies
Clustered everlasting
Shiny everlasting
Chocolate lily
Bulbine lily

Flax lily
Billy buttons

Carnivorous birds

Birds such as the Kookaburra, Currawongs and Owls are attracted when you have a diverse ecosystem. You’ll need wildlife in your garden and to begin, the best way is to cut out all pesticides and chemical use. Attracting small mammals and rodents is your best bet.

Reptile friendly gardens

While reptiles spend most of their time on the ground, trees that posses bark provide food and hidden cover. If you have barked trees, avoid removing and clearing away the bark. Keep it for the little critters passing by.

Making your garden a safe place for reptile life can be easy, a hollow log into your garden for them to scurry away from the prying eyes of predators, small shrubs, and wood chips can also make your garden an attractive home.

Similar to the butterflies, stones, or rocks with access to the sun can provide perfect sunbathing areas for our cold blooded friends. If you’re having trouble attracting lizards, you can always hire a professiona horticulturlist or a proffesional at Sydney gardeners. When you’re stuck someone with more knowledge of the garden can be all that you need.

Their sunbathing spot ideally should be elevated or nearby to a place of safety if they’re rudely awakened by a predator. Providing plenty of shelter and hiding places are ideal for a lizard’s environment. As always, an area where they can hydrate such as a pond is ideal.

The best plants and trees for attracting lizards

Lizards have a tough life and their residence must be full of cover and shelters to keep away any predators. This is great for any reptile lover because we can provide them with all the protection they need.

Plants that provide ideal ground cover

Scurvy weed (Commelina cyanea)
Kidney weed
(Dichondra Repens)

Knobby club rush (Ficinia nodosa)
Maidenhair Fern

Shrubs and grasses that provide shelter and habit for lizard life

Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra)
Wallaby Grass (Austrodanthonia caespitosa)
Tussock Grass (Poa labillardierei)
Weeping Grass (Microlaena)
Native Australian Rushes
Basket grass (Lomandra longifolia)

Climber plants that provide shelter and food for lizard life

Common Appleberry (Billardiera scandens)
Old Man’s Beard (Usnea)

Shrubs that provide shelter and food for lizard life

Tick bush (Kunzea ambigua)
Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)

Trees that provide protection

Blueberry ash
Rough barked apple
Ironbark

A strolling blue tongue lizard will relish the taste of fallen fruit, the Blueberry ash. If blue tongue lizards are on your list of neighborhood locals, we highly recommend Blueberry ash.

Install little wooden homes in your trees

This is probably the easiest and most common way of making a family of possums or birds, permanent residents. You purchase or make little box homes, wood is ideal. That can fit a family of possums or bird life.

Instead of the possum or bird living inside a hollowed tree, they’re still living in a tree, but they have a comfy little home that is far better than any hollowed tree they’ve stayed in the past. It’s quite common to see these installed by the council to give possums a helping hand and are usually in most busy areas in the suburbs.

Plant Local Grasses and get rid of Buffelgrass!

A lot of people are unaware that their grass was introduced from another country and unfortunately keeps away any local visitors. Buffelgrass is one of the most common grasses that Australian mammals flick their noses to and also prevents local grass from taking root. Kangaroos and Wallabies will only graze for local grasses such as Tussock Grass, herbs, shrubs, and leaves.

Other grasses to avoid

If you’re in the Sydney region two other grasses to avoid is African Love Grass and Whiskey grass. Both are non natives to Australia and the locals won’t be particually impressed with them.

For smaller mammals, you’ll want to create small bush shelters that can provide a home and safety when foraging. Logs and branches are ideal. Leaving dead trees can attract insects to live, they’ll hollow out with time and can provide the perfect home for small mammals or rodents.

If you’re looking to attract larger mammals such as kangaroo’s or wallabies it’s going to depend on your location. Wallabies are far shyer than kangaroos and your best bet is to provide a water hole for them to visit.

Water Sources attract a large variety of animals and insects

Wallabies or Kangaroo passing by your home is a gem for any homeowner. To increase your chances of attracting larger mammals a water hole or a pond is ideal.

A water source will eventually provide a home for frogs, tab holes, and insects. Subsequently, more birds and lizards will be attracted to the frogs and insects that have made your water hole their new home.

Garden lights

Attracting Insects: Some lights, especially those with a warmer hue, can attract certain nocturnal insects. These insects can serve as food for bats and other night-time predators.

Enhancing Nighttime Plant Pollination: Some plants rely on nighttime pollinators, such as moths, to reproduce. Garden lights can assist in drawing these pollinators.

Observation and Appreciation: Properly placed lights can enable homeowners to appreciate their gardens at night, potentially leading to increased interest in native plants and gardening practices that support biodiversity.

Depending where you live if you Live in Sydney the team from North Shore Electricians understand how to effectively use garden lighting to positively impact the biodiversity in your garden.

Keep your house cats far away

Millions of native species are killed by house pets every year. It’s especially important if you’re going to create an ecosystem to keep your cats and dogs inside. For you they may seem cute and cuddly, unfortuntly for native wild life they’ll cause huge harm. Our list of plants can help to protect the native species, but if you are going to create a diverse ecosystem you simply can’t allow cats or dogs outside. Even under your eye a dog or cat can easily kill a native lizard or small mammal.

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Ways to improve your soil quality in your garden

tristan kavanagh — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 11:53:11 +0000

Thirteen ways to improve the soil quality in your garden

Have you tried composting?

Have you ever tried composting? If not it’s a highly effective way to recycle any green waste from your kitchen. Not only does it save you room in your bins but also provides valuable nutrients to your garden, composted materials feeds your soil with lots of beneficial microorganisms that break down into the soil over time, providing constant food to your plants.

Compost also enriches your soil allowing for further growth of plants, as well as helping reduce plant diseases, and improves your soil drainage.

Composting encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material. Benefits of composting reach further than just your garden and far outweigh any negatives, if you haven’t already tried composting I’d recommend you give it a go.

Crop rotation

Crop diversity in your garden is essential to keep soil healthy, a large variety of plants require different nutrients and attract different types of pests.

That’s why we at Sydney gardeners remember to rotate their food crops each year, so that plants (and family members) don’t grow in the same place more than once every three years. This stops one type of plant from stripping all the nutrients from the soil.

Advantages of crop rotation

Reduces pollution
Increases crop yield
Increase in soil nutrients
Increases soil fertility

Limits the concentration of pests and diseases
Reduces the stress of weeds
Reduces soil erosion
Improves the soil structure

Adding nutrients manure and nitrogen

Livestock manures can be valuable additions to soil, their nutrients are readily available to soil organisms. Manures are perfect for your garden as they are already decomposed and make a great contribution to your garden and add value.

Although manures are always considered a positive for a garden, you should always apply manures with care, it’s unlikely pathogens will be found in manures from local farms. However, you should be aware of where your manure is coming from.

When harvesting crops after applying manure you should allow three months between application and harvest of root crops or leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach to guard against contamination. Taller crops are not prone to contamination.

Manures and the benefit they have to your garden

Chicken Manure: Highest in nitrogen, but also one of the “hotter” options. Definitely let it compost and age well before applying.
Horse Manure: Easy to find often at most hardware stores, but may contain the most weed seeds (although if the compost pile reaches a high enough temperature, this can reduce the weed seeds) great all round manure and every high in nutrients. If you’re considering horse manure be wary of the risks involved.
Cow Manure: A great all-purpose manure that doesn’t burn plants as easily, due to a lower nitrogen content. Generally less weed seeds than horse manure, very common similar to horse manure and easy to find.
Goat/Sheep Manure: A drier manure that is less smelly and gentle to plants (won’t burn as easily). The little pellets make it easy to apply, too.
Rabbit Manure: This is considered a “cold” manure, so you can add it directly to plants, with no worry of it burning plants as they are very low in nitrogen. Just grab some of the “pellets” and sprinkle away! They will disintegrate slowly over time and release their nutrients into the soil as they break down

Encouraging earthworms

Earthworms help break down organic matter into nutrients and minerals that plants can use. The organic matter they recycle is an excellent source of food for your plants and a natural fertiliser for your garden.

Earthworms also greatly benefit your garden by moving around, creating tunnels and aerating the soil, this makes it easier for your plants to grow roots and access water. There are countless benefits of having earthworms.

Not only do the worm castings feed plant roots, they carry a huge load of beneficial microbes that boost the soil organism community.

Managing weeds in the garden

There are many ways to manage weeds, some more natural than others, whilst spraying weeds with herbicide is effective, its long-term impact on your garden and health of your soil is something many experts recommend against due to the active ingredient glisophate.

With ongoing investigations into its effect of people’s health it’s something I would recommend steering clear of. Mulch is an effective way to manage weeds and increase your garden’s visual appeal. Mulch helps maintain moisture in the soil creating a perfect growing environment for well established plants.

Additionally prevent new weeds from growing as they are unable to penetrate the layer of mulch to reach the sun. Mulching a garden is a rewarding job and one if done right can be paying you back for months.

Supply what's missing

Over several seasons of soil building, a living, organic soil recycles and retains most nutrients. Reducing any needs for added fertiliser. When starting a new garden, ensure the soil has proper nutrients and for the season ahead. Soil tests can determine what chemicals your garden lacks and fertilisers that are needed to rebalance your soil.

To tell when your soils are ready to work in the spring, take a handful and squeeze. If water comes out, hold off for a week or so. Soils that form a sturdy ball when molded or clay soils that press into a shiny ribbon also need to dry more.

Planting cover crops

Cover crops are green manures that gardeners turn into the soil to provide organic nutrients. As they attract beneficial soil organisms, and act as an overwintering mulch.

Benefits of planting cover crops

Reduce Soil Compaction.
Manage Nitrogen & Nutrients.
Reduce Soil Erosion.
Greater Water Infiltration & Improve Water- Holding Capacity.
Control Weeds.
Increase Yields.

Types of cover crops

Beans and peas
Oats
Winter wheat
Crimson clover

Never walk on garden beds

One great tip to maintain good soil quality is to never walk in your garden beds. By treading on soft soil, it compacts it, which destroys tilth as well as organic soil organisms. One way to prevent this from occurring is by having dedicated garden beds for your produce, this is something I have always done and by keeping them narrow have managed to be able to attend to all my plants without treading on others.

Beds created in this way can improve each year rather than starting each season in a compacted state from last year’s walkways in addition to keeping soil in the garden beds loose, permanent beds also save time and money. Another benefit of garden beds provide is the lower costs of maintaining your garden.

Rather than applying costly amendments over a broad area, you need only apply them to permanent bed areas, skipping the pathways. Irrigation installation is easier, too, since the beds are permanent fixtures.

Pull, Smother, Cover

As our garden wakes up in spring, from its winters sleep so do the weeds. Before planting, it’s important to get them under control. Weeds compete with garden plants, and from a soil perspective, they steal organic food away from the living soil that leaves your plants deprived. For starters, Autumn mulching gives you the upper hand on spring weeds.

As it provides a cover that the weeds need to grow through to reach the light. Pull weeds that do emerge in the spring early and quickly, when they are small and easy to manage. Once weeds are under control your garden will be ready for the exciting growing season.

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