Our Greener Borough
Composting tips for spring
Spring is a busy time for gardeners as they prepare for blooming flowers and scrumptious fruit and vegetables. Garden and kitchen waste from the winter months will have started to rot down producing important nutrients for new plants and stronger new shoots on existing plants. Remember to keep adding to the compost bin to keep a constant flow of compost for the coming months.
Compost that is ready to spread on the garden provides the perfect conditions to grow plump pumpkins as well as squashes or marrows. Place young plants into the well-rotted compost in April or May and they'll be ready for harvest by the end of October.
To make sure that your terrace or patio pots and tubs don't let you down try adding sieved compost.
Spring is the time to prune the hardier members of the shrubbery. The dead and unwanted stems and leaves from roses and pampas grass make a great addition to the compost bin.
As the floral summer displays take over from the daffodils and tulips in early summer, don't forget that bulb greenery can be composted. Just make sure that the bulbs have started to go brown, indicating that all the available goodness has been absorbed.
To germinate seeds ready for summer planting place them in pots of compost and soil, cover with clingfilm and place them on a sunny window sill. When the last chances of the frost have gone, plant them out in the garden beds. * For more advice or to receive regular composting tips by email visit www.recyclenow.com.
Make a pledge - win a goodie bag
Make a spring green pledge and you could be in with a chance of winning a goodie bag of cleaning products, donated by Ecover, which cause less harm to the environment. Visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/greenpledge