Unique Too wrote:


I used oak leaves to mound over my first bare roots and in one large bed
in the front. They worked fine for me.

Good to know, thanks for speaking up!



I've since read oak leaves will form a mat and not
let moisture through to the gound, but I've always found the soil very
moist underneath them.

Me too. We have so many that fall every year, I just can't see bagging
them and disposing of them when I need organic matter to enhance the soil,
and now can use them for mulching bare roots. I have them blown to the
back and under the Azaleas and onto the rose beds in the winter, then
mulch over them in the spring. I think the matting problem is partially
allieviated by fertilizing, since nitrogen helps break down the leaves. On
the good side, in the far back where I have had years of leaves blown, you
can sink to your ankles in a leaf/black soil mix that is truly heavenly.
Full of worms, too!


The best part was the cost. The neighbors had raked and bagged the
leaves from their numerous oaks, all I had to do was drag them over and
dump the bags.


Yep, there is that too. Here, we can blow them to the curb and let the big
City suckup machine get them, or bag them in clear bags and they are
hauled away. The vacuum thing is cool--a big truck comes and just sucks up
all the leaves in the street, and the mess is then composted and the city
sells the results. But I keep mine!