Gardening Care Tips

Are you unsure about keeping your compost pile in the sun? Most compost farmers have the same question in mind at first. When I first started to make compost, I was uncertain when to keep the pile in the sun or in the Shade.

As years passed by, I gathered more experience and knowledge related to this issue. In this article, I will let you know if you can keep your compost file in the sun or not.

Yes, you can keep your compost pile in the sun. Doing this will increase the internal temperature of your pile, making it easier for the microorganisms to work faster. As a result, the composting process occurs quickly. But remember, your pile will dry out a lot faster under the sun.

So, whenever you put your compost bins or piles in full sunlight, make sure to keep them moist enough. Keep reading the rest of the article for more details.

Which Location is Best For the Compost Pile, Sun, or Shade?

It is best for you to place the compost in the shade. Because in most cases, the worms in the compost cannot operate properly if the pile gets too hot. Also, if you keep the pile in shade, it does not get overheated due to direct sunlight.

This will decrease the process of excess water evaporation, and be helpful for you to retain the best level of moisture.

Moreover, when you place the pile in shade, It is most likely to stay safe from disasters like heavy rainfall or rainstorms. You don’t have to worry about the compost pile getting extra wet.

In addition, keeping the compost tumblers or piles in shade will help you to work on it comfortably. So, you don’t have to go out into the bright sun every day.

Does Compost Break Down Without Direct Sunlight?

The answer is yes, your compost can break down without direct sunlight. In the final stage, the amount of sunlight received doesn’t matter. Your finished compost will depend on how it is managed and what mixture of organic materials you had put inside.

Remember that an ideal compost pile should be slightly warm and moist so that earthworms, nematodes, bacteria, bugs, aerobic microbes, etc. can operate properly.

In addition to the contents of your compost, your regional climate also plays an important role in a better breakdown. If you live in a hot climate region, your compost will break down faster in general, even if you keep it in shade.

On the other hand, if you belong to a colder region, you may want to take help from the sun for speedy decomposition.

What Happens if the Compost is Overheated?

You should ensure the optimum temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit for your compost pile. Because at this temperature the microorganisms living inside the pile can work efficiently. If the temperature gets a lot lower or higher than the optimum level, it can hamper the mechanism of decomposition.

If your compost is very hot, it will result in the death of beneficial microbes, aerobic bacteria, anaerobic bacteria, and earthworms. Also, excessive heat can cause some green materials to rot, thus emitting an unpleasant odor in the surrounding area.

Although you will hear many people saying overheated piles catch fire, actually there is no serious threat like that.

To stay on the safe side, make sure that there are enough air pockets inside the pile that allows enough ventilation. In addition, spray water on the pile from time to time to maintain adequate moisture levels.

In this way, you can save the pile from getting overheated. You can take a more accurate approach by using a compost thermometer.

Consider These Issues For The Compost Pile Location

Keep The Pile Moist Enough In The Sun

Although your composting process works faster in full sun, it dries out quickly too. In this case, you need to water the pile once in a while unless it receives a good amount of rainwater.

In the sun, try not to add too many dry materials to the pile. For example, shredded paper, cardboard, sawdust, dry leaves, wood chips, etc. will make your pile dry out faster.

So, if you place the pile in the sun, make sure to add green materials at the optimum level rather than adding only carbon materials. Examples of green materials are kitchen scraps, food scraps, kitchen peelings, etc.

Composting Slows Down In The Shade

As you place the compost pile in a shady or cooler place, it will decrease the rate of decomposition. But don’t worry, the decomposition is still effective in this state. Check daily if the pile becomes damp or not as there is less water evaporation.

To prevent your pile from getting damp, make sure to add more carbon materials like pieces of paper, sawdust, wood ash, etc. In this way, it won’t get wet and soggy keeping it in shade.

Don’t Abandon Your Compost Too Long

If you only throw waste into your compost tumblers or piles and abandon it afterward, it can take more than 2 years for it to become finished compost. This happens because you didn’t turn the pile to allow air circulation.

As a result, it got contaminated with fungi and microbes that suck up the nutrients from the compost pile. This is generally known as cold composting. Even though the contents will break down, the nutrients may leach, and the pile can start to rot.

On the contrary, you can make the compost ready in just 6 months by using a compost tumbler. This process is widely known as hot composting. In this process, you have to use high nitrogen materials and turn the pile after a definite time to increase aeration inside.

Due to this process, your compost pile will not get contaminated, and your unfinished compost will get completed faster.

Mix The Correct Ingredients

Always ensure the proper mixture of green and brown materials. Keep in mind that the rate of decomposition depends a lot on the optimum mixture of organic matter.

So, make sure to mix the right amount of water along with nitrogen and carbon materials into the pile.

To know more about what amount of green and carbon materials you should put in the pile, read the article titled “How to Make Compost in Plastic Tub” on our website.

Keep Track of Your Daily Weather and Climate

Sometimes you need to change the location of the pile depending on the weather and climate. Don’t just leave your compost for too long, keep checking them after 2 or 3 days and take the necessary steps.

Whether your compost pile needs sun or shade sometimes depends on the climate region you live in. If you live in a hot climate region, your compost pile should probably need a shady place so that it doesn’t dry out from the excessive heat of bright sunlight.

On the other hand, if you reside in a cooler climate region, your compost pile may need more heat from the sun to speed up the decomposition process. That is why we recommend you keep track of your daily weather and place the compost pile accordingly.

Few Last Words

Bright sunlight can be helpful for the compost pile, provided you can save it from getting overheated. Yes, of course, you can keep the pile under the sun, but make sure to keep it moist enough.

Otherwise, you will face consequences if the contents start to rot. For successful composting, take good care of your compost piles, and make the best fertilizer out of them.

“Can a Compost Pile Be In The Sun?” Hope you got the proper solutions. Take care!

Are you concerned about the disposal of your dead livestock? Rather than burying them into the ground, you can convert them into natural compost. Among many methods of dealing with dead livestock, my family has been doing this one for a long time.

That is how I learned many things related to this. In this article, I will tell you how to convert your dead animals into compost based on my practical experiences.

First, you need certain tools, machinery, and carbon materials for building and managing the compost pile. Using these, you must select a proper site and prepare it for composting. Then you have to build the base, add the carcass and cover it with composting material.

Take preventive measures and emergency actions along the way. You will get the desired finished compost after 12 to 16 months.

Read the rest of the article to get more information on this process.

Why Should You Compost Dead Animals?

If you are a poultry or livestock producer, you must be concerned about the proper management and disposal of animal mortality. You may find many people abandoning the carcass of an animal in ditches, open pits, sinkholes, canals, ponds, and wells.

This is very much illegal because it promotes disease and biological hazards. It also increases water pollution, pests, rodents, scavengers, and air pollution through pungent odor.

So, you should focus on mortality composting more among various carcass disposal methods. This process is an increasingly popular and efficient alternative in terms of ecosystem management, reduced health hazard, cost savings, and the creation of a usable end product.

Therefore, try to focus on best management practices (BMPs) from now on to deal with dead animals efficiently.

Required Materials and Tools

A long-stemmed thermometer

You can also use a “Compost Soil Thermometer” or “Digital Prima Thermometer” for instant reading. The long stem is very efficient to measure the temperature at the core of the pile.

A Compact Wheel Loader or Front-end Loader

This machine will help you to move the carcass and turn the pile easily. You can also use it to move the finished compost someplace else for storage.

Remember, you will need a bigger loader for bigger carcasses. So, consider the size of the carcass before hiring a loader machine.

A Perforation Tool

The composting process can take longer if the size of the dead animals is large. So, you need to either quarter the carcass into pieces or open it up to allow more surface area for the microorganisms to work.

To do this, you can use a necropsy knife, sharp hunting knife, big blade shears, or scissors.

Materials rich in carbon content

Examples of carbon sources are peanut hulls, wood ash, crop residues, sawdust, shredded sugar beets, broken twigs, corn stalks, rotten hay bales, broken down sticks, grass clippings, coffee filters, thin branches, wood chips, etc.

You must mix water into the composting pile to keep it moist. It will be better for you to use water from wells, nearby ponds, or lagoons.

These natural sources of water usually contain more nitrogen materials for optimal composting.

The Process of Animal Composting

Select the Ideal Site

• Your compost site should be in a well-drained area that is higher than surface waters like wells, ponds, canals, and streams. Make sure that the site has a good slope of a maximum of 3% for proper drainage.
• Select an elevated site away from human residences, which may be on top of a hill for the compost pile. Here the heavy wind will blow away the foul odor rapidly, making it easier for you to operate.
• You can also build your composting areas downwind of nearby houses to minimize the pungent odor or dust being carried from the compost pile due to heavy winds. It is also better to keep the compost pile away from the public and neighbor’s eyes because they may find the handling of dead livestock offensive and troublesome.
• Choose a site away from the closest public resources and any water sources. For example, tables, picnic areas, residences, playfields, guest houses, etc.

Prepare Your Chosen Site

Make the base with low permeability soil. If you find predominant soils that are close to groundwater, build a compacted layer of gravel and sand of 15 cm. For more advanced issues, you may need to build a clay pad or concrete pad.

Be sure to contact the local guide and livestock owners for more information and options regarding groundwater issues and other soil categories.

Before starting to build the compost pile, vegetate the area property to reduce environmental impact. If you manage to do proper vegetation, it will soak up pile leachate and prevent drainage into any water table. This will reduce runoff while maintaining soil porosity.

If the compost site is unvegetated, you can pave it with crushed bottom ash, caliche, clay soils, etc. to reduce the permeability of the soil.

Also, you can mix those materials into the soil, and place them compactly for seepage reduction into groundwater.

Build the Base of Your Compost Pile

Use such materials that are both bulky and absorbent as base materials, for example, shredded woods, wood chips, nut hulls, ground hay or straw, dry sawdust, gin trash, green sawdust, and remains of finished compost.

Build at least one foot of base material between the perimeter of the carcass and the edge of the base. These materials are necessary to achieve successful porosity for aeration. Keep the thickness of the base between 12 to 24 inches.

Maintain the moisture content of the compost pile around 50% to 60% by mass. To capture any leachate before reaching the pavement surface or ground soil, it must go through an absorbent base layer.

Remember, the thickness of the base layer depends on the weight of the carcass.

Keep a few open bases ready all the time to insert new carcasses. Before doing this, make sure that the base material is moist, and not excessively dry. You will probably need around 12 cubic yards of materials to fully compost a cow carcass.

In most cases, you will see that a base of 10 feet by 9 feet is ideal to compose mature animals like a cow. But in the case of smaller carcasses, you need to maintain an 8-inch to 12-inch margin around each of them.

Place the Carcass and Cover with Compost Materials

Make a layer of compost mix about 12 inches over the base layer. Ensure that that carcass must be surrounded by 12 inches of composting materials with adequate moisture. The finished compost pile can reach up to a height of 6 feet.

Cover the carcass in such a way that no part of the carcass is exposed. Because if any predators or rodents discover that animal carcass, it will keep returning to the site and disturb the process.

Moreover, covering the carcass properly reduces bad odor and ensures uniform heating.

Monitor the Composting Operation

Do not use the loader too often

Do not access the loader every day. Only use it when you need to build the pile and turn it after every 4 to 6 months. You must wait up to 12 months for the completion of the composting process.

It depends on the size, space of the carcass, and mixture of compost materials.

Manage Compost Pile Timely

Monitor the compost pile daily and only intervene when needed, so try not to disturb the site in the first 4 months. During this time, the microbes and fungi work actively to reduce the carcass into homogeneous organic material.

Even after the process is almost complete, the fungi require extra time to work on the remaining pile. After 4 months, you can access the pile for watering, mixing, and stockpiling.

Monitor Temperatures Regularly

Measure the pile temperatures and make decisions accordingly. You must use a long-stemmed thermometer or dial-type thermometer and check the temperature by inserting it into the center of the pile.

You can also use a compost thermometer that has a long probe of 18 to 60 inches for measuring the internal temperature. Make sure that the pile has 120°F to 150°F for effective pathogen destruction.

Ensure Proper Moisture Content

Your carbon-based compost materials should have 50 to 60 percent moisture content. If necessary, you can add water to the compost material. The compost feedstock should have 40% to 60% moisture for arid climate regions.

For efficient composting, you may need to create a flat top so that the moisture falling onto the pile gets soaked in. Try using dry materials to get rid of excessive moisture.

Adding a cap to your compost pile will reduce evaporation and help to maintain optimum water levels.

Watch out for These Issues

1. Sharp-ended bones can impact the quality of your compost materials. In addition, shards of large bones from a leg or hip girdles can puncture your farm equipment.

So, we recommend you remove any exposed sharp bone from the entire pile and break it down before using it.

2. Cover and cap the compost pile from all sides so that the carcass is not exposed. This will discourage any scavenger, rodent, and predator activity.

If only covering and capping are not enough, build a strong fence around the pile to stand against coyotes or bears.

3. Never disturb the neighbors with your composting process. Screen your pile from the public eye. Consider the wind direction to prevent the spread of odor and maintain a clean living space.

Take extra precautions before using herbicides. Although flies and other insects can be your worst nuisance, using herbicides too much can impact your dead animal compost.

Response to Emergency Situations Immediately

Use the loader efficiently for emergency issues. For example, if heavy rainfall or flood drenches your compost pile, you can use the loader to rebuild it again.

Also, due to bright sunlight, the compost pile can be too hot to access physically. In that case, use the loader to work on it.

Sometimes strong winds or tornados can cause damage to the compost operation. So, inspect the pile carefully to salvage and minimize the damage.

In this case, contact your local Emergency Management Coordinator for recovery and reduced public health risks.

Final Words

Compost with Dead Animals is a time-consuming process. But if you manage to pull off this method of disposal, you will have plenty of animal compost at the end.

Then you can use those for your field crops and garden plants. You may even sell or give away the surplus compost to other dairy farmers. Make sure to inform the buyers about the ingredients of your compost before selling.

In this way, you can dispose of dead animals by composting them and transforming them into a source of income.

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Can A Compost Pile Be In The Sun

Do you want to make fresh compost at your home in plastic tubs or bins? You’ve taken the right decision, even my grandfather used such plastic containers for composting purposes.

Since then, my family follows the same process for producing compost for our garden. So in this article, I’ll write about how to make compost in plastic tubs or bins at your home.

Composting is time-consuming, but if you do it in small plastic containers, the process gets accelerated more. First, you need to get the ideal containers and drill them. Then you have to fill them with green and brown material.

Selecting a good location, releasing earthworms, and daily nurture will yield a good quality compost. Then you can use it as a natural fertilizer for your garden.

Continue to read the rest of the article to find more information about this.

Why Should You Make Compost in a Plastic Container?

Compost acts as fertilizer and soil conditioner for your garden. For indoor composting, the use of plastic storage containers is noteworthy. Because they are widely available, easy to access and move, and very cheap to purchase.

Moreover, it will be easy for you to manage the contents of a small container rather than a larger one.

Also, you can get finished compost straight out of the bottom of the container.

That is why you will find most gardeners producing compost in plastic buckets or bins of their choice.

Materials and Equipment

• 2 or 3 large size plastic containers or storage bins.
• Wet decomposable materials, for example, kitchen scraps, yard waste, food scraps, eggs shells, etc.
• Dry decomposable materials, for example, thin branches, broken twigs, bits of wood, shredded paper, dry leaves, etc.
• An electric drill. We recommend bit sizes of ¼ inch and ⅛ inch.

• A small container of earthworms. It helps to accelerate the composting process initially.
• Stainless small-holed hardware cloth or wire mesh.

How to Convert the Plastic Container into a Compost Bin

Select the Ideal Plastic Tubs or Bins

If you check your house properly, you may find spare plastic bins or tubs. You can easily convert them into reusable compost bins. If you cannot find any, always remember to take a look at your nearby department stores.

Make sure that the containers have tight-fitting lids that will be helpful to retain moisture. Our recommended size is 18 gallons having at least 20 inches in height. But if the volume is any less than 18 gallons, the earthworms will not have enough space for movement.

Also, it will be tough for them to regulate the temperature.

Prepare the Plastic Bins

If you have two identical plastic containers, you can place one inside the other. As both of them have uniform mouth sizes, they will fit perfectly.

Before doing this, if you can manage to drill a few holes at the bottom of the upper container, it will be helpful to drain out any excess liquid from the first bin. You can use this drained liquid called ‘compost tea’ as fertilizer for your garden.

This will prevent your compost from getting soggy.

Next, power up your drill and make ¼ inch or ⅛ inch sized holes every 2 or 3 inches apart along each side of the plastic containers including the lid.

If you follow the procedure in the previous paragraph, make sure to drill holes at the bottom of the first container only. However, if you drill using bigger bit sizes, place hardware cloth or wire mesh at the inner wall of the bin to resist rodents.

Remove all plastic residues after making the holes.

Select the Best Location For the Bins

After the holes are drilled, it’s time for you to select the perfect place for the containers. If you live in a cold climate area, consider placing them indoors. Otherwise, the decomposition will stop freezing the compost.

But if you live in a hot climate area, place them outdoors provided you can shelter them from rainfall.

You can place them near your kitchen or vegetable garden. In this way, you can easily compost the kitchen scraps, household waste, food scraps, garden waste, weeds, and yard trimmings into it.

Other than that, you can also place them on balconies, porches, garages, or storage sheds. Just remember that wherever you place them, you need to keep them safe from heavy rainfall, cold, and excess sunlight.

Fill the Bin with Decomposable Materials

Make sure to add any dry decomposable materials as the first layer, for example, grass clippings, coffee filters, broken down sticks, paper napkins, and towels, thin branches, toilet paper rolls, paper egg cartons, shredded newspaper, coffee grounds, dry leaves, wood chips, wood ash, etc.

These dry organic matters will help you to create a stable base and retain the proper moisture. Before adding any big and dry paper rolls, make sure that you chop them into smaller pieces.

You can also make it damp to accelerate the decomposition rate.

Then gradually you can add wet decomposable materials like kitchen scraps. Wet materials also include rinsed egg shells, vegetable peelings, food waste, fruit peels, vegetable scraps, etc.

Remember that before adding any kitchen compostable materials like vegetables and fruits, you need to finely chop them using a knife or food processor similar to a blender.

Chopping into smaller pieces will help them to break down quicker and promote decomposition.

Release the Earthworms

You can always release a handful of earthworms initially to expedite the decomposition process, although it is optional. If your container is smaller, you can start with around 100 to 150 earthworms.

But if you can manage the container of our recommended size, you can release 200 to 300 earthworms at first.

The earthworms consume all the decomposable materials and keep recycling again into the compost. Nurture them properly and protect them from cold or bright sunlight. Contact your local worm farmer who can supply you with earthworms.

In addition, if you have a bait and tackle shop nearby, you can easily get worms for your compost.

Ensure Better Maintenance of the Containers

Don’t add composting materials without proper measurement. Because excessive dry materials will decelerate the decomposition rate while too many wet materials will make the compost soggy and smelly resulting in the death of worms.

Keep in mind that a healthy compost pile generally has less nitrogen matter than carbon materials.

If you find that the contents inside the compost are very wet producing a pungent smell, you need to add some dry scraps like shredded dead leaves and sawdust into it.

On the other hand, if the inside is very dry, add wet materials gradually and spray water to increase moisture levels.

You need to shuffle the organic material every 3 or 4 days so that none of them stay inactive. Try to use your hand while doing this, because using a scoop or shovel may kill the worms. Keep turning the materials and bring the bottom ones to the top.

In this way, you can release the oxygen trapped inside and let fresh air in.

Don’t leave your compost unturned for a long period. As you have added food scraps, they can consume nutrients to grow a plant. As a result, your compost will become less nutritious day by day. The compost can no longer act as a fertilizer, all your hard work is wasted.

On the contrary, turning the compost too often will interrupt the movement and growth of eco-friendly organisms like actinomycetes, fungi, molds, yeasts, red wiggler worms, pillbugs, etc.

Nurture Properly and take Preventive Measures

• Check the temperature of the compost daily. If it is warm enough, then the decomposition is occurring properly. But don’t let the inside get too hot, otherwise, the microorganisms will die.
• If the inside is cold, maybe the decomposition is not happening efficiently. Try to add nitrogen to it through green material and water.
• You can always add earthworms to accelerate the decomposition process but be sure to keep a count of them. In addition, you can use commercial compost starter and nitrogen fertilizer in the optimum amount to quicken the process.
• Make sure that the drainage holes at the bottom do not get clogged because of excess compost materials. Shuffling contents from time to time can prevent this.
• Remember, you must not add all kinds of kitchen waste into the compost, for example, banana peels, peach peels, raw eggs, dairy products, animal bones, meat, etc. Although they will get decomposed in the bin, the process will most likely develop pathogens. This will generate a pungent odor and attract harmful pests and rodents.

Final Words

Composting in a plastic tub or bin is easier than doing it in a large container. You will have better mobility and accessibility with those containers that will help you to nurture efficiently.

While other methods can cost you more, this successful composting process can be completed for less than $20 or $30. Your cheap compost will turn into nutritious fertilizer in just 3 to 5 months (12 to 14 weeks). Then you can use it in your garden for better productivity.

So, don’t wait and start investing in homemade compost now and make natural fertilizers for your garden soil.

Do you want to start your garden by killing the lawn grass with compost? Even my father adopted the composting process to kill grass when I was young to start our garden. Over the years, I gained a lot of experience working with him.

So, in this article, I’ll write about how to kill grass with compost-based on my practical knowledge.

You will find that the composting process is recommended by most home gardeners to kill the grass. In this process, you have to mow down the big grasses first. Then, you need to lay down a few layers of paper and cardboard on the lawn and apply inches of mulch and compost to it to start the process.

After watering and nurturing for a definite period, the grass will get killed eventually. Continue to read the rest of the article to know about this process in detail.

Different Methods to Kill Grass from Your Lawn

You can choose any of the three major procedures to reduce or remove grasses from your lawn. These three methods are widely used around the world. But remember, all of these methods have their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, you must take extra precautions before applying any of these to your surroundings.

First method:

The first method requires professionals to perform because it includes the usage of toxic chemicals. They use these toxic chemicals on your lawn to kill grass faster than any other method.

But keep in mind that these chemicals are so powerful, that they will also kill any environmentally friendly microorganisms, fungus, and soil pathogens, for example, Actinomycetes, Mycorrhiza, Nematodes, etc. The chemicals not only kill grass but also degrade the value of soil. Using such toxic chemicals too much will destroy all organic matter and affect nearby trees.

So, if you are a nature lover, we request you not to adopt this method.

Second method:

The second method is quite manual and exhausting because it requires hard labor to perform. You need to use a sharp shovel or sod cutter to remove grass and weed seeds from your lawn.

It will always be good for you to sharpen up your tools before using them, otherwise, it will require extra push and strength to get your desired outcome.

But if you have back pain or you’re physically tired, you can always hire professionals to do this for you.

Third method:

The third method that we will be writing about in detail is known as sheet mulching. You don’t have to use toxic chemicals and it doesn’t require hard labor to perform.

But keep in mind that you should have enough time in hand to get rid of the grass from your green lawns properly.

What is Sheet Composting?

Among all the methods that we have discussed, or have known before, sheet composting is one of the best eco-friendly ways to kill grass and weeds. You may also know this as lasagna composting or sheet mulching.

It is good for you that this process is quite inexpensive, less exhausting, and requires regular cheap materials to operate with simple skills. You can kill lawns easily, by creating a deficiency of sunlight. Spreading layers of different materials on the grass will eventually break down into compost, thus giving you nutrient-rich soil while killing weeds along the way.

You can perform sheet mulching in almost all types of lawns, for example, Kentucky, Fescue, Centipede, Perennial Ryegrass, Couch grass, Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Bahia, Pampas, Buffalo, etc. Sheet mulching isn’t dependent on any season, so you can start the procedure at any time of the year.

Just make sure that you have enough time in hand because this entire process will require 6 to 10 months to properly kill your lawn.

How to Perform Sheet Composting

Required Materials and How to Manage Them

Cardboard:

Regular cardboard or layer of newspaper (black and white only) that doesn’t contain glossy colors. Otherwise, the metal pigments from colored pages can hamper the composting process.

If you want to buy cardboard, look for places that sell refrigerators or similar house appliances. You can also contact local retail stores to get board-like boxes. If there is a local packing company nearby, you can purchase corrugated rolls from them.

Mulch:

A maximum five-inch layer of mulch. You will find natural mulches like pine needles, grass clippings, small gravel, shredded bark, straw, etc. We recommend you use wood chip mulch. You may find this available at different landscape supply yards.

Try not to use mulch from allopathic trees like Walnut, Eucalyptus, etc. which may restrain plant growth in the future. Make sure that the mulch you get from the tree doesn’t contain any contagious bacteria.

You can also contact the local tree companies who can supply you with readily chipped bark or arbor mulch at a cheap cost.

If you live anywhere near California, be sure to check the website lyngsogarden.com to purchase mulch for your garden easily.

Clean water:

An adequate supply of clean water. This helps the cardboard to maintain a proper moisture level.

Also, the water provided during the composting process helps to increase fertility. This will help you a lot in the future if you try to establish a vegetable garden on the same soil.

Water Sprayer:

A regular hose equipped with spray attachments. Depending on the lawn area and the speed of your water flow, you can try various attachments that can modify the range of the water spray. Browse Amazon or eBay to find a wide variety of hose fittings, nozzles, sprinklers, and connectors that control water pressure.

Two inches of compost or worm castings. This compost pile will increase the nutrient value of your soil surface and help you to make an edible garden after the grasses are killed.

Lawn Preparation

• Set the power of your mower to the lowest setting and then begin scalping your lawn.
• Use your shovel and get rid of any items that get in your way, for example, stones, heavy metals, or rocks. If any of those items are found reusable, you can save them for later purposes. But if any permanent object becomes a barrier, try to deal with it with utmost caution.
• If the mower encounters any hardscape, you can use a sharp shovel to pick up or trim around that area. This helps to clear a path for the lawnmower. Put the excavated lawn pieces onto the remaining lawn area upside down. You can use the back of the shovel to flatten it up.
• Keep watering the ground properly, but don’t turn it into clay soil. If the soil remains hard and compact, it will badly affect the composting process. So, apply adequate water at the required places for a short period. You can keep repeating this process to get the required soil moisture.
• To prevent spillage of mulch onto nearby fields, roads or pavements, you can set up temporary fences at the perimeter of the composting lawn.

Process of Sheet Mulching

• Select a less windy day to place the layers of newspaper and cardboard. You need to ensure a thickness of 7 to 10 sheets of newspaper on the grass. Ensure that there are no gaps or holes between the sheets so that no sunlight can reach the grass and weeds.
• In addition, you can include a layer of kitchen scraps, food waste, coffee grounds, fresh green weeds, or animal manure along with leaves and lawn clippings.
• Try not to place sheets around bushes or plants, but if you have to, place them at least 10 inches away from those plant stems.
• It will be better if you can manage more manpower for the job. Divide the tasks of placing a layer of cardboard, spreading mulch and compost, and sprinkling water between them. But if you do all these three tasks alone, make sure to do all of them simultaneously.
• Sprinkle water over the papers or cardboards to keep them soggy enough. This will prevent them from blowing away. Also, watering frequently helps to maintain moisture, increases organic material, and quickens the composting process.
• For the composting process, spread a two-inch layer of compost over the lawn. This will also help you in the future to create an edible landscape garden.
• As you lay down the papers and cardboards, keep applying mulch to them. Try to maintain a minimum layer of five-inch. This will prevent them from blowing or tearing away because of strong wind.

Final Words

Wait patiently after the initial processing is done. You need to allow a minimum of 6 to 10 months so that the entire lawn is turned into compost and the grass with weed seeds is killed.

Finally, after a long wait, you will get fertile, loamy, and earthworm-infested garden beds. Then you can start planting flower and fruit trees in this nutrient-rich native soil. Be sure to contact a soil specialist or your local gardeners to get instant tips.

Just remember to keep up the hard work and believe that your labor will never get unnoticed.