This is how long it takes for hardwood wood chips to break down in a tumbler composter.

As a young boy, I had to contend with my grandfather’s compost heap. It was a veritable Vesuvius of foul-smelling, putrescible plant waste, a metre high and hidden behind a privet hedge. We had placed ...

As a new gardener, I thought I could stick any plant in the ground, and with a little sunshine and water, it would flourish. When my most basic efforts did not produce a gorgeous and abundant garden, ...

Composting is science and making truly usable plant and garden fuel requires a careful balance of dry brown material and wet, nutrient-rich green. The latter usually consists of kitchen waste but ...

A well-managed pile reaches 130 to 160°F in the active phase. Hot composting at those temperatures kills most weed seeds and pathogens.

Every gardener has at least one tool that seemed clever when they bought it and now lives at the bottom of a bucket, under cobwebs and regret. Most garden work is better done with your hands, a shovel ...