AboutGreg Expertise As a Master Gardener: taken classes in All Phases of Gardening...I Specialize in Lawns... Pererennials... Compost... Organic Gardening.
Question Hi Greg, I live in San Francisco and have a nice size yard with lots of Ivy and tree leaves. How can I compost these, the weather in my part of town partly sunny with fog. What do you suggest? Thank you for your time.
Answer Hello Eneyda
These are Carbon <brown matter> Tree Leaves and Ivy. You need to balance them out with Nitrogen <green matter> such as Grass Clippings, Kitchen wastes.
Select a spot that gets plenty of Sunshine, and is close to a water source. What you choose for a Composting spot is up to you, the things that go into it, don't care what it's made of. Put a Layer of Brown matter 4" then add a layer of Green matter about 1". Top this off with a layer of regular Garden Soil, this is your activator. Continue to do this to your desired height, layering they same way. make sure you water between each layer, well, but not soaking.
Let this sit for about a week, put you hand into the pile, and you should sense "Heat". Then turn the whole pile over, and wait about another week. Keep turning the pile, adding liberal amounts of water each time till you sense no more heat.
Things to remember, the smaller matter is when it goes into the pile, the quicker it Decomposes. Things to avoid in the Pile are, Meat and Dairy Products, Bones, any Carnivore Manure, Vegetables that have Salad Dressings on them.
