Monty Don shares 'black gold' DIY compost recipe that's 'better than any product'

BBC Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don has shared his latest advice in his May blog all about how to let your garden bloom.

The green-thumbed among us can nourish gardens by making your own compost which is "better than any product known to man". According to Monty, who penned The Gardening Book, "compost is the alchemy of a garden" which turns our daily rubbish into "black gold".

He explains that there is a secret of making it reasonably quickly - and it doesn't have to be a "major operation", he says.

To make your own compost, you need to "have a good mix of matter high in nitrogen (green) like grass clippings and drier material (brown) that is high in carbon and then to aerate it often by turning it."

You don't have to do anything special, just simply forking through it will make a massive difference. This will help to get oxygen into the heap which, in turn, will ensure the bacteria eats the decomposing material and thus, converting it into compost.

The gardening expert says that this will enrich your soil with essential bacteria, fungi and nutrients with Monty himself stating that the compost you make will be "better than any product known to man."

The hack comes as the gardening expert also says that tomatoes should be planted in a greenhouse. He says you should however wait until the end of May to plant them outdoors.

"This is because tomatoes hate too much temperature fluctuation and May nights can be chilly - especially if the days are warm. Plant them deeply, burying them right up to the bottom leaf as the buried section of stem will develop extra roots," he said in the blog post.

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