Leaves are basically a big pile of carbon. The process of breakdown will be
limited by cooler temps temperature, moisture, and supplies of oxygen,
nitrogen, etc. Turning the pile is key to entrain oxygen and evacuate CO2 so
the decomp fauna is not dominated by anaerobic microbes.

--
Mike LaMana, MS
Heartwood Consulting Services, LLC
Toms River, NJ
www.HeartwoodConsulting.net




Peter wrote in message news

some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues
of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a
chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a
few months
into leaf mulch.

Well, I went into the chicken wire enclosure, and found piles of wet
leaves and no
leaf mulch. Doesn't look like anything happened at all over the past few
months.
Packed about 40 bags of dead leaves and dropped them off at the landfill.

So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems
to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet
and turning
every now and then.

Anyone know???

Thanks !!!

Peter