Green Industry ECOnomics - LandcareNetwork.org

Compost’s Many Pluses
Research conducted on properly
processed composts has demonstrated
time and again their many uses
for turfgrass and ornamentals. The key
for end users is finding and using
composts that have been properly
processed. Producing high-quality
compost, regardless of the feedstock,
requires considerable know-how and
time. Claims that compost can be
made in weeks or months — at least
the way most commercially available
compost is made today — are just
that, claims.
Manufacturing soils, you might
wonder Well, actually, Barnes refers
to them as engineered soils.
Yes, she explains, you can take
aver age or poor quality soils and,
by blend ing them with other soils
and adding organic matter, usually
in the form of compost, produce
higher-quality soils. These soils
produce and sustain healthier
plants — food crops, ornamentals,
or turfgrass — that are better able
to remain healthy in the face of
droughts and other environmental
stresses, and better able to resist
plant diseases and insect pests.
Know what you’re buying, and buy “Every time you raise the organic
only high-quality product. Properly matter content of a soil 2 percent
manu factured compost offers the you’re going to see a definite dif ference
in the performance of plants,”
following benefits:
said Barnes. “By raising the organic
For soil, it helps to:
matter 5 percent, you’re going to
• Moderate soil temperatures.
see green grass in a drought, you’re
• Alleviate compaction.
going to need less fertilizer and pest
• Reduce erosion.
controls, and you’re going to see
• Enhance water infiltration and
less damage from insects. Composts
retention.
are the best way to increase the percen
tage of organic matter in a soil.”
• Enhance gas exchange within soil.
For systems, it helps to:
Beyond that they contain literally
• Suppress diseases and pests.
countless plant-beneficial organisms.
“One teaspoon of compost
• Increase the population of beneficial
organisms.
contains four billion living organisms,”
said Jean Schwab, EPA
• Neutralize pollutants.
• Build biodiversity.
GreenScapes Product Manager. “It’s
For plants, it helps to:
living soil.”
• Provide valuable nutrients.
No wonder then, as you talk with
Barnes, you begin to think that the
real color of sustainability shouldn’t be green, but brown — rich, brown
compost that she describes as “the gold of the future.”
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