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Daily gardening tip · Southern hemisphere · Saturday 19 September 2026 · early spring

Turn Your Compost Pile to Speed It Up

Turning your compost pile today wakes up the beneficial microbes just in time for the spring planting season.

Turn Your Compost Pile to Speed It Up
5 minuteseasycompost
  1. Take a garden fork or a shovel to your compost bin.
  2. Slide the tool under the dry outer layer of the pile.
  3. Move this outer material into the center of the pile.
  4. Toss the damp, dark center material toward the outside.
  5. Stop once the entire pile has been loosened and rearranged.
A garden in early spring

Why it works

Decomposition requires oxygen. Over the winter, compost piles settle and pack down, which squeezes out air and slows down the breakdown process. Mixing the pile introduces fresh oxygen, which feeds the helpful bacteria that turn waste into rich soil.

French lavender

Plant of the day

French lavender

Lavandula dentata

An aromatic evergreen shrub with finely toothed, grey-green narrow leaves. It produces dense violet flower spikes crowned with delicate pale purple bracts

Read about it →

Gardening news

Gardening news

Bank holds rates at 3.75% but warns energy shock could bring rises

The Bank of England kept its interest rate at 3.75 percent for the sixth time in a row, but warned that rates could go up if fighting in the Middle East continues to affect energy costs.

The Dirt · 2026-09-18
New research

Scientists discover how fungi process nutrients for plants

Researchers studied single-celled fungi to see how they break down complex plant sugars into simpler food. These fungi act as decomposers that return vital nutrients from decaying plant matter back into the soil. Understanding this process helps scientists improve soil health and combat crop diseases.

news.cornell.edu · 2026-09-17
On this day

Pioneer plant geneticist Carl Correns born in 1864

German botanist Carl Erich Correns was born on 19 September 1864. In 1900, he independently rediscovered Gregor Mendel's laws of inheritance using garden peas. His later experiments with flowering plants revealed how certain traits pass down outside the cell nucleus.

britannica.com

Written for the southern hemisphere. Gardening north of the equator? See the northern edition

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