On Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:05:34 -0800 (PST), Jessica Mae
wrote:

On Nov 13, 1:53*pm, 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?

I live in the midwest as well. You shouldn't use your leaves as mulch
because they tend to develop mold & you'll just have continuing
problems on your hands.


I process all my leaves (over 180 trees on my lot!) and take
neighbors' leaves. Putting the leaves through my 8-HP chipper
shredder, I put the ground-up leaves into a round wire bin. Grinding
up the leaves reduces the volume 5X or more. After sitting in the bin
for 2-3 weeks, the volume decreases again by one half. In spring I
got a black leaf mold--very valuable organic material for anything you
want to grow! It is just as valuable as compost, but not quite as
common. Use it soon after 5-8 months, else it disappears.