MULCHING AND COMPOSTING: HOW TO AVOID FERTILIZERS WITH DINAMITEK
Dinamitek presents its guide to eco-friendly garden and vegetable garden nutrition.
Mulching and composting: how to avoid using fertilizers with Dinamitek
Avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers is a good choice for lawn health , as well as a sign of green ethics. Soil that is consistently chemically fertilized becomes impoverished over time, while compost is a nourishing organic supplement: using it will improve the condition of gardens and vegetable patches as well as contributing to plant health.
The purpose of these techniques, mulching and composting , is precisely this: to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers in favor of an organic supplement. Organic soil nutrition provides organic matter that prevents the soil from drying out. There's nothing stopping you from using both techniques: mulching for your lawn and compost for your vegetable garden and flowerbeds. Furthermore, using these techniques reduces the amount of waste to dispose of, saving time and management costs (green waste must be taken to the recycling center; it's not included in the standard municipal collection program).
Composting is an easy process that provides healthy, organic material to nourish the soil of your vegetable and home gardens. Making compost is even easier if you choose to feed it with greenery and twigs from lawn, garden, and vegetable garden.
An alternative to organic nutrition is to use the lawnmower's mulching function, so lawn clippings don't even need to be collected. It's not about leaving the grass clippings to settle on the lawn: mulching is the function that shreds the grass , allowing the lawn to quickly use them as nutrients. Mulching is achieved thanks to the shape of the lawnmower's blade , which is different from a traditional one. Mulching equipment features a cutting chamber where the grass clippings are shredded before being deposited on the ground. The shredded grass decomposes quickly and is absorbed by the soil. This type of operation can only be performed when the lawn is dry, because humidity prevents the shredded grass from decomposing, generating residue that could rot before being absorbed, and putting the lawn at risk of fungal infections.
Furthermore, mulching is not suitable for areas with high humidity and should only be practiced in the summer. To achieve perfect mulching, frequent mowing is necessary: the grass should be cut to a maximum of one-third of its height, and it is recommended to leave a minimal amount of clippings on the lawn. To achieve perfect mulching without the effort, we recommend using a robot lawnmower , which takes care of the lawn completely autonomously, also avoiding the damage caused by trampling the operator when using a push mower. The robot lawnmower's settings allow you to specify the area and mowing frequency, achieving excellent results effortlessly.
Making home compost requires more effort than mulching .
Here is a schematic guide on the steps to follow
- Get a bottomless container , even a plastic one, to ensure direct contact between the material and the soil. The container should be large enough for the amount of greenery produced by tree and hedge maintenance. Be careful not to introduce weed seeds, as this could completely overwhelm the composted area.
- Add a first layer of shredded twigs, 20-25 cm deep. This dry layer helps control humidity and prevent the dreaded bad odor from forming in the composting cabin.
- The base layer can be followed by a layer of shredded wet material, alternating with layers of dry material. Wet material includes not only garden products, but also household organic waste (which should be separated into organic waste). Just as with organic waste separation, printed paper, coal, ceramics, plastic, metals, synthetic fabrics, or even bones should not be placed in the composting bin. Alternating wet and dry material will prevent fruit flies from invading the composting bin. The presence of flies, along with a bad odor, are the downsides of home composting done without proper precautions.
- The compost must be fed by adding red earthworms (found at the local Agricultural Consortium) which facilitate the degradation of the material and promote the aeration of the mass stored in the cabin.
- After 5/8 months the compost is "mature" and can be used in vegetable gardens and home gardens