On 11/13/2008 10:53 AM, Newbie wrote:
As a new gardener in soon-to-freeze Midwest, I have noticed the
following irony: We as well as our neighbors are raking bags upon bags
of autumn leaves from the front and back yards and discarding them. At
the same time we are buying mulch to protect newly planted perennials
during the winter.

An obvious question is, could we use those leaves as mulch? I get
enough to make as thick a layer as needed?

Where I live, a real freeze happens maybe once in 15 years. The soil
never freezes.

In front of my house, I created a layer of leaves about 6 inches thick
around my valley white oak (Quercus lobata) and then covered it with
poultry mesh (chicken wire) anchored into the soil. Western oaks suffer
when they don't have a thick leaf mulch. The mesh keeps the leaves from
blowing away in our Santa Ana wind storms (when gusts of 60 mph are
possible).

Also in front, I leave most of the leaves on my front "lawn" alone. The
lawn is actually a ground cover -- pink clover (Persicaria capitata).
Today, I raked along the edges just to make it look a bit neater. The
leaves I removed are now mulching part of my back yard.

In back, the rose, west, and teardrop beds all have a good growth of
ground covers, either the pink clover or cinquefoil (Potentilla
neumanniana). These shade the soil, conserving moisture, keeping the
soil cool in summer, and discouraging weeds. However, I do not plan to
have any ground cover in the east and circular beds. There, I am
accumulating leaf mulch to serve in place of ground covers. I place
small branches that have fallen from my trees over the leaves to hold
them in place.

I will, of course, rake the back lawn when my evergreen ash (Fraxinus
uhdei) drops its leaves (not being truly evergreen). Otherwise the
leaves will be thick enough to smother the red fescue that serves as my
lawn. Much of those leaves will also be used in my east and circular
beds. The excess will go into my compost pile, which is actually more
leafmold than compost.

Only one bed in back has neither ground cover nor leaf mulch. My
camellia bed is mulched with the output of my office shredder. The
camellias seem to thrive with this mulch, which mats down and is not
affected by winds.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/