using up old compost

Brie

Now a friend of mine who does quite well with his pots on the patio claims all the soil should be replaced every year.  Something I've never done.  And things are ok (mostly).  

But I've decided to minimalise the pots and get more things into the ground.  As mentioned on another thread the soil is currently the consistency of concrete.  Very very poor quality.  I have therefore emptied out all those small pots that I use for hyacinths and other indoor things in the winter and have 3 large trugs of compost/pot soil which I'm looking to scatter in the garden.  Do you think this will have much of an impact?  Should I include fertiliser with it? 

I've got some plants that need to go in various places so am looking to do this all as one project.  I'm wondering though for some portions of the garden how effective putting a layer of compost on the soil around plants and just leave it to the local wild life to do the digging in (cats, worms etc).

Seems silly to simply bin the stuff.

Soot2006

I never throw out compost - I always chuck it back onto the beds; sometimes mixed in with manure and/or granular fertiliser depending on the plants.  I also rake all my leaves onto the same borders. Then I mulch over the top and forget about it.  By next year it's all disappeared into the soil and I can start over again. I always read about people having to rake off the mulch in the spring, and I don't have anything to take off. Not sure if I am doing it wrong, but it works and  I have a lovely large garden.

Brie

Thanks @Soot2006
Would it be a mistake to remove the leaves from the beds?  We've a huge tree that fills our front garden with leaves and I'm thinking I should just rake them into the beds to create a better environment for hedgehogs etc and just let them either disintegrate over time or churn them in next spring.  This year the gardeners were all gung ho and removed them.  Stops a lot of saplings sprouting of course but those are easy enough to pull.  Would it help to add compost on top?  Or what would the mulch consist of??

Not going to be adding manure but I could easily chuck in fertiliser.  Any plants I should avoid with this??

twopenny

I always tip old pot compost onto the garden.

Good tip about leaves though I don't have that many here I'll keep it in mind as the soil must be suffering.

Yes to feeding. Good to remind me because I know that the plants can't take up food if they can't take up water so I'll sprinkle some growmore over the beds in the hope we get some moisture tomorrow.

Bonemeal spring and autumn I seem to remember, for shrubs, rose food before first flowering and after ready for second flowering.

I too determined to put potted stuff in the ground and made headway in spring, but the plant buying is compulsive and it always seems a good idea to buy more.

Brie

twopenny said:

I too determined to put potted stuff in the ground and made headway in spring, but the plant buying is compulsive and it always seems a good idea to buy more.

Sounds like we fell off the same tree!!

sheramber

I also put used compost on the garden.

When I had access to a lot of leaves I bagged them up in bin bags , made sure they were damp, knotted the neck of the bag and stabbed it with a garden fork a few times.

I then chucked the bags in the space between my shed and my garage.  Next year I had bags of lovely leaf mould for the garden.

TheGardener

I usually recycle my old compost into the compost bin - it's a great addition with the kitchen waste and grass cuttings and comes out the bottom all fresh and ready to use again next year. 

Chloe_G

I too put old potting compost onto our compost heap - and I make leaf mould, got old dustbins with holes in and it rots down well.

vgsudjko91

What do you do with old tomato grobags?

I'll have lots this year but previously they've been mostly filled with roots and the soil is very fine and doesn't appear to have many nutrients in by the timer the tomatoes have finished.

Farway

vgsudjko91 said:

What do you do with old tomato grobags?

I'll have lots this year but previously they've been mostly filled with roots and the soil is very fine and doesn't appear to have many nutrients in by the timer the tomatoes have finished.

I've used it in the base of large pots to "bulk out" when potting on, or alternatively just spread it as a mulch

sheramber

vgsudjko91 said:

What do you do with old tomato grobags?

I'll have lots this year but previously they've been mostly filled with roots and the soil is very fine and doesn't appear to have many nutrients in by the timer the tomatoes have finished.

Spread the compost on the garden