Compost is the center of gardening. In order to have anything grow properly you need to feed the soil not the plant. Most of the food that a plant takes in is from the roots. The leaves take in food but not on the scale that the roots do. By placing a layer of compost on the ground each year either on the lawn or in the garden you have provided the nutrients that mother nature had intended to have done. Following are hints to make that compost better and the requirements needed to decompose that pile of material to become compost.

Hints to help your compost pile

Begin with compost bins 3 to 4 feet across. This size is perfect as it permits for rapid internal heating of the compost pile, which forces the decomposing process. Smaller bins will be hard to heat and can't keep processing temperatures through normal winters. Bigger bins may limit air filtration into the pile, retarding decomposition.

Put some nitrogen into the leaves as you place them in the pile. Add one to two cups of organic lawn fertilizer, minus weed killers, for every four bushels of leaves. Or you can add one part leaves to two parts fresh grass clippings or related green garden remains.

Wet the leaves as they are piled since moisture is a must for decomposition, and rain won't soak through a leaf pile quickly. Be aware, shredded leaves may be over packed in the compost pile, restricting oxygen required for decomposition.

Don't turn over compost piles in the fall. This practice lets the heat escape, which is needed to keep the process through the winter. Compost piles should be turned in spring to accelerate the process.

There are only four compost requirements

1. Exposing to air
A loose-fitting, well-mixed heap of compost will reach high internal temperatures, which is necessary for killing weed seeds and other unwanted pathogens. To be on the risk-free side, don't decompose diseased tomato plants or similar plant material. The absence of oxygen will produce a disgusting smelling compost pile as well as reduce the process. This can be averted by turning the pile once in a while.

2. Wetness
If the pile is dry, a few moments with the garden hose to moisten it is all that is required. Do not overwater as a waterlogged pile will not decompose the right way and there will be undesirable odors.

3. Particle size
In the subject of composting, smaller is best when it comes to what is put into the pile. Branches and large pieces retard the process and takes much longer to become compost. By utilizing a chopper or shredder, you will finish with smaller pieces. Or you can try a hand pruner, cutting large stems and stalks into smaller pieces to reduce particle size.

4. Plant food
Because microbes, which help the decomposition of organic matter, utilize nitrogen for their metabolism, additional nitrogen should be used. Grass clippings are high in nitrogen and will assist in composting if correctly mixed with other materials. Don't use clippings where herbicides have been applied lately. Kitchen waste, like meat products, cooking oils or fat and bones, should not be used as they appeal to rodents and other creatures. In addition, don't put pet or human waste in the compost pile.

If you follow directions, you can make compost from fall leaves that is ready to use by following late spring. If you only tossed them into a pile, it will take two or three years to decompose. But Mother Nature will make certain the leaves turn into compost sooner or later.