Compost and fertilizer tips for your garden

Fertilizer and compost are two key components of landscaping. Knowing what you can about fertilizer options will take you a long way when it comes time to purchase and use them.

While you're sure to get an armload of advice about compost, there are a couple of things other gardeners may not think to tell you. Consider these tips for an overall healthier garden and yard.

• Those numbers on bags of fertilizer hold a wealth of information.
• "N" stands for nitrogen, which stimulates leafy growth.
• "P" is for phosphorus, which promotes flowering.
• Finally, "K" represents the potassium content; plants need potassium for a host of functions, including root formation.
• Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are called the plant macronutrients because plants need these three in large quantities.
• They also need so-called micronutrients, such as iron, but in smaller amounts.
• A bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer contains 10 per cent each of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium by weight.
• The higher the numbers, the more "potent" the fertilizer, but buy only what you need because overfertilizing is as bad as underfertilizing.
• Your local garden centre can advise you on what and how much to fertilize.

• One way to keep your garden healthy and long-lived is to remove diseased plant parts as soon as you detect a problem.
• While it's a wonderful idea to compost any healthy vegetative material you remove from the garden — you'll save money making your own compost instead of buying it, and your garden will thank you — home compost piles are unlikely to produce the high heat necessary to kill disease-causing organisms.
• So take those mildew-covered phlox leaves and throw them in the trash, not the compost.

• If there isn't a good reason to remove fallen leaves, don't.
• Leaves compost by themselves, providing beneficial humus for trees over time.
• Think of it as the trees feeding and mulching themselves.
• So unless the leaves are smothering something planted underneath the trees, this is definitely one legitimate way to minimize maintenance — you can't ask for less work than no work! — while actually promoting plant health.