"unfinished" compost help

[monkey1962]

hi there,
I'm a bit of a newbie to gardening having taken over my late mothers garden, and I want to make a rose garden, I have identified the area, weeded it , dug it over tilled it and next spring , March ,April want to move all her rose bushes to the area. There are about 10 spread all over the garden,
I have been making a compost in an old dustbin and its unfinished, what I would like to do is put the "unfinished" compost in to the prepared area to rot over winter , would you advise me to do this or not, all help is graciously received

stephen

[tomc]

Your plan will work.

[imafan26]

It will be similar to trench composting. It works as long as all of the components are there: organic matter, air, water and organisms to do the composting. As long as you are not planting on it immediately it shouldn't do much stealing but it will be cold composting.

[monkey1962]

thanks for the advise, for me its all about having the confidence to do it , because I want to get it right and make it look lovely, the garden was a bit of a dump and I have worked hard to get it in shape,

thanks again boys, all advise gratefully received

stephen

[DoubleDogFarm]

Welcome to the community Stephen.

How large an area are we talking. It must be fairly large for 10 rose bushes.

What do you mean by dustbin. 33 gal garbage can. Actually not much compost for 10 roses. I recommend you don't enrich the planting hole but sprinkle around the drip line after planting.

Another option is to cover the complete area with cardboard and your favorite mulch. Early Spring cut holes and transplant your dormant roses.

Eric

[monkey1962]

Thanks for the welcome Eric,

the area is about 8 meters long by about 2 meters wide, ( is it to small because I can extend it )

you right it is just a normal garbage bin about 4ft high and about 16 inches across, I been feeding it since June, its nearly done and has gone cold, I thought it would be a good way of enriching the area by letting it rot all winter, the roses are located all over the garden there are 6 in large pots, 3 in soil and 1 at the rear of the garden, all the roses are doing ok but it would look lovely if I could put them all in one area.

any more advise is generously received

Stephen

[DoubleDogFarm]

So roughly 6 1/2 ft wide and 26ft long. About 170 sqft. 170 / 10 = 17sq ft. About a 4ft x 4 ft area per plant. Problem with this there is no room for aisles.

What type of gardener are you. Easy flowing natural or stiff and formal.

What type of roses are we dealing with. Tea, Climbing etc.....



Eric

[monkey1962]

hi Eric

I'm defiantly a go with the flow gardener, as long as it looks nice I'm not to bothered about conformity,

the area backs onto a wall and looks big enough for what I need, from what I can make out ( bearing in mind I'm a newbie to all this ) the roses look like a cross of hybrids and tea roses and there is 1 climber, so its a mixture,

as far as aisles go if you mean for walking round I don't think it will really be necessary, I just want it to look lovely and make my old mum who has passed away look down and be proud of me.

its a huge garden and I have enjoyed this summer as most of the back breaking work has been done in the last couple of years since she passed in 2011,

Stephen

[monkey1962]

I think I took your advise Eric, made the plot a bit bigger so as to give me some room to get in between the bushes,

loving being a member of the forum,

Stephen

[rainbowgardener]

What a nice project! I think you will be glad you took E.'s advice. Roses need to be deadheaded and pruned, maybe sprayed, definitely fertilized and mulched. If there isn't enough space between them, caring for them will be a very scratchy, irritating experience.

[tomc]

because I want to get it right and make it look lovely, the garden was a bit of a dump and I have worked hard to get it in shape,

Stephen,
The old standard (as in when I was a gardening punk) was you wanted ninety days between the application of fresh manure-compost and harvest (and consumption). This includes dormant times like winter.

Now before the poop-phobic crawl all over me. I'm only trying to set out a set of brackets I think you want to be aware of. And paint on the outside of.

I'm not persuaded that all compost must be decayed past the point of recognizing any fragment of it, before adding it to your garden. Still a pause between the "out" and the "in" cycle is likely to be a nesisary part of life.

[monkey1962]

thats very handy to know tomc, I will remember that, if I put it in at the end of the month that will give me Nov, Dec, and Jan plus Feb for it to rot, well over 90 days. before planting

thanks tomc

Stephen