Improve your compost pile

Peat helps you produce better compost by speeding up the process, reducing odors and controlling air and water in the compost pile.

If you’ve never tried composting, there are a couple primary factors to consider: what kind of compost bin will meet your needs and where to place the bin. Your garden retailer can help you decide which compost bin is best for all your garden needs. Placement of a composter is trickier. In general, the compost bin should be located:

• Close to where it will be used, where it won’t interfere with activities and where it won’t offend neighbors;
• Away from drying winds; and
• In partial sunlight to help heat it.

Some communities have additional rules; it's best to check with your local regulations on these requirements.

Your checklist for better compost:

• Mix a one-inch layer of peat to every four inches of compostable materials.
• Using a garden fork, flip over the top layers of organic materials every week or two.
• Add water when needed (the center of the pile should be moist — not dry or soggy).
• To help cut down on odors, put two-inches of peat moss on top of the pile.
• Follow these steps until the center of the compost pile is brown and crumbly, ready to mix into the garden.

Peat in the garden

When adding compost to the garden, blend with equal parts of peat moss. The two complement each other with unique benefits for your garden.

Peat slowly decomposes (several years versus several months for compost) ensuring longer-term organic matter in the soil, balancing the nutrition-rich but faster-decomposing compost and reducing compost’s tendency to compact. The peat moss/compost mixture helps:

• Aerate plant roots by loosening clay soil;
• Add body to sandy soils;
• Reduce leaching or runoff of nutrients from compost by retaining and slowly releasing them over time to plants.

You can use the compost/peat moss mixture to improve the soil in lawn areas, garden beds and when transplanting trees and shrubs.