Hello,

I have access to tons (yards) of leaf mulch and would like to know what
additional additives are needed to make it useable for flower and vegetable
gardens. Also, once the additional properties are added, would the mixture
be useable right away.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion,

Kurt

Time

"Kurt" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have access to tons (yards) of leaf mulch and would like to know what
additional additives are needed to make it useable for flower and
vegetable
gardens. Also, once the additional properties are added, would the
mixture
be useable right away.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion,

Kurt

I have 35 trees on a little over 1/4 acre. I have a chipper and a mulching
mower.
I have had a compost pile for 9 years now, and basically its just chopped
leaves, grass in season, and any other waste I can put in there, never used
additives. Makes a great mulch.
HOWEVER, I find that laying the fresh chopped leaves out right away makes
for very happy earthworms the following year, so I am doing both for now.
Main problem with leave mulch for me is that my 2 Schnauzers bring in lots
of leaf 'cornflakes'!
Chas


"Kurt" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have access to tons (yards) of leaf mulch and would like to know what
additional additives are needed to make it useable for flower and
vegetable
gardens. Also, once the additional properties are added, would the
mixture
be useable right away.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion,

Kurt

Yea, time. If you either layer them over your garden in layers of 7 or
fewer inches or leave them in a pile and turn it every two weeks for three
months for good results I'd say.

On the other hand, if you can add something rich in nitrogen (such as goat
manure, chicken manure, green vegetation, etc) to mix in a 1:6 (nitrogen to
leaf) ratio by volume, then you'll be cooking with the pros.

That said, I strongly recommend against getting chemically treated grass
clippings or commercial grade chicken manure or anything else that was fed
something you wouldn't feed to your plants.


--
Please see our website of gardening products at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Peace

Cricket

"Kurt" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have access to tons (yards) of leaf mulch and would like to know what
additional additives are needed to make it useable for flower and
vegetable
gardens. Also, once the additional properties are added, would the
mixture
be useable right away.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion,

Kurt

Yea, time. If you either layer them over your garden in layers of 7 or
fewer inches or leave them in a pile and turn it every two weeks for three
months for good results I'd say.

On the other hand, if you can add something rich in nitrogen (such as goat
manure, chicken manure, green vegetation, etc) to mix in a 1:6 (nitrogen to
leaf) ratio by volume, then you'll be cooking with the pros.

That said, I strongly recommend against getting chemically treated grass
clippings or commercial grade chicken manure or anything else that was fed
something you wouldn't feed to your plants.


--
Please see our website of gardening products at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Peace

Cricket

"Kurt" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have access to tons (yards) of leaf mulch and would like to know what
additional additives are needed to make it useable for flower and
vegetable
gardens. Also, once the additional properties are added, would the
mixture
be useable right away.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion,

Kurt

I top mulch with nothing but leaves all the time. It retains water, the
worms love it, it improves the soil, one summer on top of the soil and it's
basically gone. Excess I throw in the compost bin.

Carlotta

"Kurt" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have access to tons (yards) of leaf mulch and would like to know what
additional additives are needed to make it useable for flower and
vegetable
gardens. Also, once the additional properties are added, would the
mixture
be useable right away.

Thanks in advance for your suggestion,

Kurt

In article , "CWilde"
wrote:

I top mulch with nothing but leaves all the time. It retains water, the
worms love it, it improves the soil, one summer on top of the soil and it's
basically gone. Excess I throw in the compost bin.

Carlotta

You left out, & its free.
I also love the smell of leaves & leafmold on the ground.

-paghat

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

Isn't the smell wonderful? Me too! You can really tell when it's all fitting
together like it should be. I'm one of those people who wouldn't ever do the
digging in the dirt thing with gloves on, because I like the way it smells
and feels. There's just something magic.

Carlotta

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "CWilde"
wrote:

I top mulch with nothing but leaves all the time. It retains water, the
worms love it, it improves the soil, one summer on top of the soil and
it's
basically gone. Excess I throw in the compost bin.

Carlotta

You left out, & its free.
I also love the smell of leaves & leafmold on the ground.

-paghat

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

I layer leaves (shredded by my leaf blower ) with kitchen scraps and
add a sprinkling of blood meal and keep it all moist to turn it into
compost quite quickly. During the winter, I just pour a three inch
layer of shredded leaves into my raised beds and come Spring, till any
remaining leaves into the soil.

The smell of chopped up leaves rates right up there with the smell of
freshly cut grass, two of nature's finest fragrences. Ok, this is
doing nothing to quell my Spring Fever!