On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 10:38:20 +0100, Janet Galpin
wrote:

I have just generated a few sackfuls of ivy shreddings. It's good stuff
- a nice mixture of woody and leafy, and quite fine. I would normally
simply add the shreddings to my compost heap.

However, I'm wondering whether to put them straight onto some vegetable
beds and cover with black polythene in the hope that they will be
reasonably well rotted down by springtime. I'm just a bit concerned that
in rotting they will deplete the soil of nitrogen, or is that just a
temporary effect when they're very fresh?

Janet G

AIUI fresh shreddings etc do deplete the soil of nitrogen initially as
bacteria rot them down, but when the bacteria die that nitrogen
becomes available again. It's not permanently locked up.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net