f your planning on making your own compost pile make sure you have everything ready and start your project at the right time of year.The best time to start your compost pile is in the early fall period or autumn depending on what part of the world you live in.

There are many way's to make a compost pile but here is one sure way to make it a success.
First you are going to need some sheets of plastic,these are to prevent tree roots and weeds from getting up into the mix. Lay the sheets on the ground to make enough area for a 3 foot square pile.

Next you are going to spread a 6 inch layer of grass cuttings or leaves over the plastic and shovel a 1inch layer of beneficial garden loam over the leaves.Repeat this process of adding a layer of loam and leaves until the compost pile is roughly 4 feet high.

To accelerate the composting process of your pile you can use organic material, shred leaves into mucj smaller peices ( a Black and Decker Leaf Hog is ideal for this ). If the leaves are dry you should dampen them after they are completly mulched up. If you have used oak leaves you should add some ground up limestone to the mix. This will help reduce the acidity of the oak Leaves.Lastly you can add some fertilizer such as cow manure.

Your compost pile should be situated in a shady part of your garden in order to help retain the moisture and make sure the centre of the pile is lower than the sides which will also help to hold in the moisture. Do not be tempted to disturb the pile during the first few weeks.After about three weeks it should be starting to look more like compost and you can then start to turn it over with a shovel every couple of weeks.

The compost pile should contain a variety of creatures such as insects, worms and centipedes which help to speed up the biological break down of the compost.The compost pile should be moist but not overly wet as this would restrict the air flow needed to allow the right kind of bacteria to grow releasing digestive enzymes into the mix.

Applying compost is an affordable way to improve the soil conditions for any gardener no matter what sort of things you plan to grow. By making your own compost pile, instead of relying on premade bagged fertilizer you would be doing yourself and the enviroment a service.

There are other types of compost pile designs but the one desribed above is a fairly simple one to build and is usually the kind most gardeners start out with.