Compost Tea Puts the ‘Good Guys’ in Charge of Your Soil

Compost Tea Puts the ‘Good Guys’ in Charge of Your Soil

Compost tea is the superfood that gives your landscape a boost – a rich brew that uses the science of Mother Nature to improve soil. And as spring rolls into sultry summer, it’s a good time to plan for how doses of this rejuvenating liquid can help your landscape. Gardens of Babylon’s landscape maintenance team provides a new “recipe” to keep soil alive and healthy.

“I learned about the importance of compost tea at least 20 years ago, and it just made sense to me,” says Gardens of Babylon owner Mark Kerske, who oversees the brewing of compost tea for clients’ landscapes and gardens.

“The soils in Tennessee are not only compacted due to heavy clay, but also depleted by the constant use of toxic fertilizers, Kerske says. “Plants are now dependent on the fertilizers for growth, which have wiped out all the good, beneficial microbes in the soil. Using compost tea is the best way to put the ‘good guys’ back in.”

It’s a mixture teeming with life that nourishes your landscape without the use of toxic fertilizers. The life in the soil allows plants to manage their own nutrient needs. “Without a healthy soil food web, the pesticides and herbicides kill those good guys, and the crawly creatures that are in there working,” Kerske says. “If we don’t have that food web, soil structure deteriorates, and pathogens and disease start to take over.” With synthetic fertilizers, you kill the soil, he says. 

What’s brewing?

By “good guys,” Kerske refers to the micro-organisms that make up the nutrients in compost that improve soil. The tea is a liquid form of compost, but it has the extra boost from a buffet of treats — fish hydrolysates, humic acid, kelp, bacteria, fungi and other ingredients – to encourage those organisms to reproduce at higher levels. 

Gardens of Babylon’s new “recipe” used for the tea application depends on what’s best for your landscape: “If you want to grow a better lawn and annual flowers, you want to use more of a bacterial type of compost tea,” Kerske explains. “A fungal type of compost tea is better for trees, woody plants and perennials.”

It takes about 24 hours to brew a batch of compost tea, Kerske says. It’s an aerobic process: “When we’re brewing the tea, we’re injecting oxygen.” Moreover, the mixture remains oxygenated in the tank on its way to a clients’ landscape. “When you start to decrease the oxygen, the microbes start to die off,” he says. “Our tea is healthy, happy and full of oxygen when it’s sprayed on the yards.”

When? And how?

Spring, summer and fall are good seasons to give your landscape a dose of compost tea, Kerske says. “It’s usually applied once the soil temperature gets above 50 to 60 degrees.” It’s a good idea to first aerate a lawn, pulling out plugs of soil and allowing the tea to go deeper into the ground, “so it’s working a lot faster that way.” Spring is a good time to aerate, as well as fall, especially if you are overseeding the lawn ahead of winter, he says.

Compost tea is applied to established lawns, but is especially good for new lawns started from scratch. If soil is compacted, Kerske recommends three applications a year. “It’s taken years to make your soil bad, so it will take a couple years of applications to improve it.” 

The amount to apply is measured per square foot; usually, a typical residential lawn benefits from 50 to 100 gallons of compost tea, Kerske says. 

The Gardens of Babylon landscape team can provide a total maintenance package with tea applications – “weed and green applications is how we refer to it,” he says. “It’s one of the tools we use throughout the year to keep peoples’ lawns and landscapes healthy.”

Ready to rejuvenate your soil with a dose of compost tea? Book a consultation with the Gardens of Babylon Landscape Maintenance team here

Extend the Outdoor Season with a Firepit

Extend the Outdoor Season with a Firepit

 

Fall is coming, and we can expect chilly nights soon. But wouldn’t it be great if you could still gather with family and friends out on the patio for a relaxing evening outdoors? Consider the warmth and congeniality a firepit on your patio or an outdoor fireplace can provide.

“Especially during this time of the pandemic, it’s a good way to get outside without going anywhere,” says Gardens of Babylon landscape architect Ryan Fogarty. While most of us no longer need open fires for cooking (except, possibly, for making s’mores), time with friends around a fire can warm the air and the heart.

As the weather cools, a crackling fire on the patio can extend the time you can be outdoors. “It’s a great way to enjoy being out in the yard,” Fogarty says. “It’s like a little retreat.”

Stylish additions

For outdoor entertaining, family gatherings, casual dinners on the patio, a firepit can be the element that brings people together. In an outdoor room, a fireplace can make the space comfortable even when the weather is cold.

“We have definitely seen an uptick this year with people requesting a firepit built into design plans,” Fogarty says. “It’s a cool experience in nature. Like going camping without going camping.”

Style choices run the gamut, from rustic stacked stones to designs that are sleek and modern, or anything in between. 

Design and build

A typical firepit for Gardens of Babylon clients may be circular or square, usually 18 inches tall or a little taller. The width depends on the scale of the design, but it’s typically 36 or 42 inches wide or wider, Fogarty says. It may be built of wall block veneer and capstones, but can be any suitable material that may reflect the style of the landscape and the homeowner.

“If it’s in a patio, we build the patio around it,” Fogarty says. In a wood-burning firepit, the logs sit atop fire bricks flush with the ground. Gas firepits are also available. The gas company taps into the home’s gas line and attaches a fireplace insert, and the building crew builds a wall block or other veneer around the insert to hide it, Fogarty explains. 

Questions to ask:

Here are some questions to consider when you include a firepit or fireplace in your landscape design:

  • How and when you will use it? It is for entertaining large groups or small gatherings? Maybe it’s just for the two of you.
  • Do you want wood-burning or gas-fired?
  • How large should it be? Is a small firepit big enough? Is a massive fireplace too large?
  • What is your style: rustic? Sleek and modern? Something in between?
  • What type of seating will be placed around or nearby?
  • If a firepit is to be installed in a patio, is there enough space to accommodate it?
  • Should the firepit design include an additional wall for seating? “A firepit with a seat wall takes a lot of space,” Fogarty says. Maybe you’d rather have it out in your yard.”

A fireplace has an extra set of considerations. “The majority of fireplaces we have worked on have been a kit, and we veneer it with a brick or other natural veneer that the homeowner wants, Fogarty says. “A fireplace also requires a chimney flue and the insert, which comes with the kit.”

“For homeowners with kids it’s good for getting outside and sitting around,” she adds. And those marshmallows melting over the firepit for s’mores are something even the kids will enjoy.

To discuss ways to include a firepit or fireplace in your landscape design plans, book a consultation with a Gardens of Babylon landscape design team professional here.

Fertilize Your Landscape With Compost Tea

Fertilize Your Landscape With Compost Tea

Give your landscape an energizing dose of tea this spring — compost tea, that is, a rich “drink” that uses the science of Mother Nature to enrich the soil. 

“I learned about the importance of compost tea at least 20 years ago, and it just made sense to me,” says Gardens of Babylon owner Mark Kerske. “The soils in Tennessee are not only compacted due to heavy clay, but also depleted by the constant use of toxic fertilizers. Plants are now dependent on the fertilizers for growth, which have wiped out all the good, beneficial microbes in the soil.” Using compost tea is the best way to put the “good guys” back in the soil, Kerske says.

What, exactly, is compost tea?

“Compost tea is THE most natural fertilizer,” explains Troy Hinke, founder and owner of Living Roots Compost Tea in Chapmansboro, TN. It provides new life for soil – especially soil that has been abused, say, by heavy equipment during construction or renovation, or overuse of chemical fertilizers. 

“Basically, it’s a liquid form of compost,” Hinke says. Knowledgeable gardeners understand it is the nutrients in compost that improve soil, but the magic is really in the micro-organisms that make the nutrients. “So we’re extracting the microorganisms and putting food in the water to get those organisms to reproduce at higher levels,” he explains. 

The “food” sounds like a buffet of treats that soil can appreciate: fish hydrolysates, humic acid, kelp, bacteria, fungi and other ingredients to populate the brew. “The idea behind the concept is that bacteria and fungi are the first decomposers in nature, and they’re breaking down organic matter and hold their nutrients in their bodies. Their predators come along and eat them to make those nutrients in a plant-available form.”

It’s the circle of life on a tiny, tiny scale that provides big benefits for soil in need of help.

What compost tea is not is the runoff of water that percolates through a compost pile or bucket of soil. Hinke calls that leachate, or runoff, and it doesn’t have the benefits of true, actively aerated tea. In fact, it could have a negative effect on plants because of anaerobic or harmful organisms that may be present, Hinke says. Good compost tea starts with finished compost, is aerobic during the brewing process, with foods for the microorganisms to do their work.

“The biology is what makes the difference within compost and compost tea. It’s all about the life within that.” 

Why use compost tea?

“It’s a natural form of fertility,” Hinke explains. With chemical fertilizers, the plants may get the correct organisms for growth, but the nutrients don’t regenerate. “Chemicals not only are harming the environment, but you’re spending more money, having to reapply the chemicals over and over again.”

Nature can do a better job, Hinke says. “With this more natural method you’re providing life to the soil, and the life and biology in the soil is making the nutrients available.” In other words, the generous, fortified tea is putting the life in the soil for the plants to manage their own nutrient needs. 

“It’s the science behind Mother Nature. It’s how it works in the natural world.”

When? And how?

Spring, summer and fall are good seasons to give your landscape a dose of compost tea, Kerske says. “It’s usually applied once the soil temperature gets above 50 to 60 degrees.” It is applied to established lawns, but is especially good for new lawns started from scratch. If soil is compacted, he recommends three applications a year. “It’s taken years to make your soil bad, so it will take a couple years of applications to improve it.” 

The amount to apply is measured per square foot; usually, a typical residential lawn benefits from 50 to 100 gallons of compost tea, Kerske says. The Gardens of Babylon landscape team can provide a total maintenance package with tea applications – “weed and green applications is how we refer to it,” he says. “It’s one of the tools we use throughout the year to keep peoples’ lawns and landscapes healthy.”

Learn more

After his extensive training in organic food production, composting and compost tea, Troy Hinke became the soil and compost tea specialist for Gardens of Babylon. In 2015 he moved to Chapmansboro and worked for a large-scale composting facility before starting Living Roots Compost Tea. 

For a deep-dive into the relationship between soil and microbes and how compost tea contributes to the circle of soil life, Hinke has produced a ten-part podcast on the subject. Find What’s Brewing?: A Compost Podcast on Spotify, or in iTunes in the podcast Farm Land

Ready to rejuvenate your soil with a dose of compost tea? Book a consultation with the Gardens of Babylon Landscape Maintenance team here.

How To Repair Landscape Drainage Problems 

How To Repair Landscape Drainage Problems 

Rain is good for gardens, of course. Too much of it, pooling in the wrong places in your yard, can cause drainage problems around your landscape and in your home.

“Proper drainage is probably one of the most important services that you should have around your home,” says Gardens of Babylon owner Mark Kerske. “You want to keep the water away from the foundation of your house.”

Water running into the basement or crawlspace can cause mold and other problems. Downspouts from the gutter can push rainwater into the foundation if they’re not properly routed. Water that leads to damage on any part of the property causes trouble over time. “The problem with poor drainage is erosion,” Kerske says. “It can affect the structure of your house or driveway.” 

Change the course

There are several methods for guiding water away from the house, depending on the origin of the problem.

  • Downspout extension: If rainwater rushes through a gutter downspout near the foundation, a tube on the end of the downspout can empty rainwater farther away from the house during a downpour. The piping can be aboveground, or installed from the downspout in a trench that runs underground, out from under any mulched beds, where the water exits through a pop-up drainage emitter in the lawn. 
  • Berm: The way water travels over the ground depends on the topography of the property, and if water naturally runs toward the house, a bern –a raised soil barrier or ridge — can be an effective way to direct water away from an area, Kerske says. 
  • Swale: A trench-like depression in the ground forms a chute, of sorts, to direct the water flow. It can be lined with large chunks of rocks to slow the velocity of the water. “When you have a large amount of water coming toward your house, you want to slow it down,” he says. “If you direct water into the swale, you can get it to go where you want.” 

Again, the lay of the land will suggest which method is best. “If the land behind the house is much higher, that’s where you really need a good swale or berm,” Kerske says. “The key is to move the water away from where it wants to naturally go.”

Design challenges

For any landscape design project, a designer and homeowner will discuss any drainage problems on the property that need to be addressed. “That’s the first step. We can do a drainage consultation and assess what the problem is.” Kerske says. “If it’s something they can’t do or don’t want to do, we can put together a design and calculate what it will cost to do the repairs.”

If the solution to a drainage problem calls for a swale or a berm, that can become part of the overall landscape design. “We can put native plants along the streambank. We can use groundcovers, and make it look like the swale belongs naturally in the landscape. That’s where a designer can really be of help,” Kerske says. “The designer can incorporate that drainage swale or berm into the landscape plans.”

Solving drainage and erosion problems in a landscape is the first step in any design plan, Kerske says. “There are so many hills here in Middle Tennessee. We do a lot of drainage work,” he says. “I think proper drainage is the most important part of landscaping.” 

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Gardens of Babylon offers landscape drainage and erosion solutions. Book a consultation with a Gardens of Babylon landscape professional here.

 

How Landscape Audio Can Make a Gathering Space

How Landscape Audio Can Make a Gathering Space

Landscape Audio makes your outdoor space special

Imagine relaxing in your personal outdoor retreat.  It probably has comfortable seating, just the right amount of shade and sun, and soothing music all around. A custom sound system designed for the specific needs of your landscape takes outdoor music enjoyment to the next level. An outdoor audio system is a nice addition to your outdoor living area, says Eric Van Grinsven, a landscape designer with the Gardens of Babylon design team. A backyard retreat is the area where you can get away to when you need a break. “It’s your little spot you can disappear to or just relax and be surrounded by nature.”

Indoor, outdoor: What’s the difference?

Your favorite music sounds good indoors because there are walls and ceilings to bounce the sound back to your ears. But even the best indoor speakers, when they’re outdoors, send music out into the open where sound quality is diminished. A system designed for outdoor spaces balances the sound coverage throughout the area, tailored specifically to your landscape design. Outdoor speakers are also more durable, built to withstand the sun, wind, rain, cold, dust, dirt, bugs and other elements that you expect in an outdoor environment.

How does outdoor audio work?

Gardens of Babylon is a certified dealer of Coastal Source, a landscape audio systems company based in Moorestown, NJ. Chris Marshall, a Coastal Source landscape lighting and audio designer, explains that a landscape audio design specialist will consider the size, shape and needs of an area, based on the landscape design submitted by the dealer. The setup generally includes a power supply, amplifier, audio streamer and speakers.

Interested in including audio in your backyard retreat? Schedule a free phone consultation through the Irrigation, Lighting & Audio portal on the Gardens of Babylon website. You can also schedule an in-person audio demonstration to hear how outdoor audio can transform your outdoor living areas.