I always make mounds by adding about a half yard of compost and thoroughly mixing with the native soil that I throw from outside the mound i'm creating. This causes a kind of moat affect as the mounds are about 2' high and 8' across (diameter). The moat is from the soil I remove outside of this area. In a couple years it flattens out. In a setting where this is not practical you should bring in a half yard of soil to go with your compost and mix thouroughly with the top few inches of existing soil. To stop the mounds from eroding it is good to mulch annually with wood chips or the equivalent.

Buckster said: "Let me know what you think. I would love to make compost but I don't have a lot of time to get all the materials and I only have this month or so to do this and then the rains stop." I may be too late with my input, but I will offer my thoughts and hope for the best. Making compost does not take a lot of input; the main reason for all the turning, temperature taking, and other techniques is to speed the composting process. Compost made by creating a pile of horse manure and wood chips left to its own natural time frame will make compost just as good as turning the pile every +3 (three) days or more. It all comes down to a matter of time. Ingredients you pile up now will be ready to use next season if constructed in a general 3:1 ratio of browns to greens. You already know about how your environment plays into the mix of the process, thus one can take measures (cover the pile, add extra moisture, leave exposed during rainy season) to get the most bangs for the buck (excuse the pun). What you are describing in your post could be sheet composting. It has worked for years for other members; I see no reason it shouldnÂt work for you. I would tweak the process to fit my circumstances and go for it. I trust this helps in some way Blutranes

man its hard to see the slope sideways... or is it just me ... the pic is sideways for me ... i presume the rocks are on the high side??? and why do you presume it will stay damp.. if it is ON THE SLOPE ... or do you mean its at the bottom of the slope ... you havent lived there a whole year yet have you???? why do you think it will stay wet ... more facts please ... i am just wondering if you are making some faulty conclusions ... ken

I took our puppy to the vet today because he didn't want to eat, he threw up, and his #2 was starting to look less solid. They did a test on his sample I brought in, and told me he has a disease called Coccidia. The woman at the reception desk said that now that our puppy has done #2 in our yard, that Coccidia is in our yard FOREVER. She said to immediately pour an abundant amount of bleach water on EVERY spot he has done #2 on. That would mean spraying that all around our Forsythias! She said if I don't, he will continue to reinfect himself. She said the organism will easily survive the winter outside. I called the breeder, because we had a 10 day health guarantee and well, we paid a large amount of money for our dog. I'm just stunned he's sick! The breeder was saying that woman at the vet is an idiot, that organism is everywhere, in every lawn in America because it's in mud puddles and bird droppings, and she even said voles have it. She said if I pour bleach on my lawn I will kill everything on it including everything I've planted. The she said if you want, I can give you your money back and I can take the dog back. What? Is she crazy? This is a member of our family now, not some business transaction. I told her no way! She offered to pay for the vet visit and the Albon. If I dilute the bleach enough will it still kill my lawn? I don't know who or what to believe right now. I appreciate everyone's responses so much. I know Crate training is an appropriate way to train. My sister did it with her Bischon. But hearing him whine and cry and paw at the cage made me (and dh) feel like we were imprisoning him after taking him away from his family of 9 brothers and sisters. Our dd was crying and saying get him out mom, he's so sad, look at him. We have trained him already. He now paws at the door with his little paw when he needs to relieve himself outside. We had another day today of no accidents. Dh definitely doesn't want the dog sleeping with us in our Queen bed when he's full grown. I just figured when he got too big we'd move him to his own bed next to us on the floor. We are excited to train him to become the great dog I know he is, but since he's so sick right now, we're backburning doing any training until he's well again. This post was edited by ilovemytrees on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 1:46