Want to improve your garden for next season? You can, by making compost now. Composting is easy to do and it doesn't have to be a nose-wrinkling experience. Start out with one of nature's best and most ignored materials: ordinary leaves. Now that the raking season is upon us, those big piles can be put to better use than wasting them at the curb.
Other organic materials can be set aside also. Use those grass clippings, prunings, weeds and even shredded newspapers. Vegetable scraps from the kitchen can go in, too, such as coffee grounds, lettuce, banana and cucumber peels. Some things, like chicken bones and grapefruit halves, take too long to break down, and are better left out if you're looking for usable compost in eight or 10 weeks, or by next spring.
Don't use leftover meat or dairy products, dog or cat litter, weeds loaded with seeds or black walnut sawdust.
In general, the more you can shred the materials, perhaps by running over them with the lawnmower, the faster they will break down.
One can enclose the heap, both for aesthetic reasons and to make better use of vertical space. Use cinder blocks, stacked with air spaces between them, arranged in a 3 or 4-foot square. You can start with two courses and keep stacking the blocks as the pile rises. Or, use wire fencing, looped in a circle. Or, make use of an old garbage can, and punch holes all around, especially in the bottom for drainage.
One of the most common mistakes is not to try composting at all, because it sounds too complicated. Some of us try too hard, layering in just the right proportions of this or that material. Actually, terrific compost can be made quickly, by using just chopped leaves and one of the brands of "compost booster" sold in garden shops. Simply layer the leaves with sprinkles of the nitrogen-rich flakes, water each layer, and let the microbes do the work. Turning the pile after two weeks helps the process move faster, but it's more important to keep the pile moist. The idea is to keep the pile loosely packed, so oxygen can be available to keep the decomposition going.
Too much water makes it soggy, blocking out the oxygen. For the same reason, one doesn't pile heavy things on top, or allow the kids to jump on it. You should cover an outdoor pile, to prevent leaching out of the important nutrients. Just check it occasionally, to make sure it is damp. A pile that is too dry doesn't break down much, so it pays to lift up an edge to check the progress occasionally.
The leaves will be mostly decomposed by spring, and one can easily sift out the fine stuff through an old piece of hardware cloth or fine-mesh fencing. This might be used for fine seed beds, or for top-dressing houseplants. For mulching shrubs or digging into the perennial beds, however, many gardeners simply use the dark brown, half-finished material. Its even color makes it look good, and it's easy to scratch into the surface of the soil.
Potting up an amaryllis bulb for forcing is one of the easiest and most rewarding projects for fall. These will be available soon at garden centers. Pot the bulb in well-drained soil, leaving one third sticking up above the soil line. Water it well to give it a good start, wait until growth appears in a few weeks, then water again and keep it reasonably moist. You may want to provide a stake to help support the huge flower spike. Another idea is to set the pot in a basket with a handle. When the spike develops, it can be supported by tying it to the handle.
If you have kept a bulb from last year, you probably have sunk the pot into the soil and allowed it plenty of sun, water and fertilizer for good bulb development this summer. Now is the time to help the leaves ripen off a little early. Pull up the pot, bulb and all, and inspect it for insect eggs. Dose it with insecticidal soap spray, clean off the pot carefully and bring it indoors. Water less than usual for now, and then withhold water completely after two weeks or so. The leaves will gradually die off, as the bulb becomes dormant. Every two or three years, the bulb can be repotted with fresh soil and offsets can be removed and potted up. They seem to bloom better when slightly pot-bound, so don't rush the repotting. Once the leaves are dried up and the bulb looks lifeless, put the pot in a cool place that's at about 55 degrees. This reduces unnecessary moisture loss. Don't water the bulb at this time, to prevent rot. Be patient, and in about two months, a green tongue will tell you it's time to bring the bulb up and resume watering. You can top-dress with compost and bone meal, or sprinkle on some time-release fertilizer granules, such as Osmocote. Before you know it, you'll be blessed with one of the easiest and most brilliant indoor bulb displays. This is one of the few times when one can achieve spectacular results with very little effort.