I am a soil girl. I typically like to have a good base of soil with amendments for growing garden vegetables. So when I started working at a compost facility, I got asked often if it is okay to grow in straight compost. It seems to go against my grain to confirm that, but it…
A customer that is a builder stopped by recently for garden soil to fill his raised beds. He shared this unique tip for a cost saving raised bed garden that I want to pass on. Since the price of wood has nearly tripled recently, building a wood framed raised garden will cost a pile of…
You might be asking yourself, how, in November, are we already talking about gearing up for gardening in the spring? The answer relies on this old adage: Your best garden is the one you’re going to plant next year. So, with winter quickly approaching, it’s already time to start planning an early growing season, by…
The best single time of the year for top dressing lawns is in the fall for cool season grasses and in the spring for warm season grasses. I’m writing from Montana so we have cool season grasses here. This also allows you to combine other cultural practices such as core aeration and over-seeding with the…
To continue our information about compost, let’s talk more about using un-composted material. Although in time un-composted materials will eventually decompose, adding organic matter directly to the soil without first composting it may have some undesirable effects. For example, if large quantities of un-composted leaves are incorporated into the soil, microbes will compete with plants’…
We like to talk about compost here at Rocky Mountain Compost. Its what we started our business with and its still our best seller. We got into producing compost on a commercial scale to fill many needs. The first need it met was removing yard and animal waste from places that needed somewhere to go…
Its well known that fertilizers are analyzed on the basis of their value of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium or Potash (N-P-K). They provide and enhance nutrient sources for the plant, but the difference between the two lies in the benefits to the soil itself. Some of the downfalls of using fertilizer is how hard it…
There are a few easy ways to do a soil sample test in your garden. It is good to know what kind of soil you have. As you watch your garden grow you can make sure your vegies and flowers have what they need. So, doing a few types of soil tests gives you lots…
Now is the time of year when we are wanting to perk up that grass that’s been sitting brown all winter and make it look green again. We are craving that green lawn and want it to perk up quickly. There are lots of options for making that happen. I’m just going to mention a…
We get asked this question often so I thought I would address it. Of course, if you are going to be using compost on your garden to grow vegetables or flowers you want to make sure the compost is safe. Herbicides Many people have concerns about composting lawn grass that has been treated with herbicide…