"Scott Harper" wrote in message
...
| Does anyone have any recommendations or anectodes related to
composting
| live oak leaves?
|
| I have tons of them in my yard right now, and it would be nice to
use
| them for something other than a campfire...
|
| But I've piled these up before, and they just don't seem to break
down.
| Granted, I haven't tended much to them, in the way of turning, etc.
But
| I have a couple friends who generally have the same experience.
|
| So what's the word from the wise gardeners out there? Can live oak
| leaves be effectively composted? Any special tricks?
|
| thanks
| scott

They go into a chickenwire bin along with the non-green grass that
comes along with raking them. When the St. Augustine is edged with one
of those diamond-blade long-handled tools from Sears or just with
edging shears, it goes into the pile also, alone with things like
seeds from winter squash, potato peels, old potatoes, carrot tops,
beet skins, asparagus bottums, rotten tomatoes, etc.. Invariably, it
seems, the compost bin is ornamented by sprouts from the ancient
potatoes, and sometimes tomato or squash volunteers, and we even
sometimes get new Irish potatoes. We always have four o'clocks growing
on top of the pile because their seeds get raked up with the leaves.
Some would say that the pile isn't hot enough if things grow in it,
but everything breaks down fine. A little water goes into the top of
the pile if it hasn't rained lately. It's never turned. The greatest
part of the bin is filled with oak leaves, and it seems to take about
six months at most to break down. Nothing about the leaves kills
anything. St. Augustine grows right up to the trunks of the live oaks
wherever they are.