Stephen Howard wrote:

On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 08:52:37 +0100, "janet.bennett"
wrote:

I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an
old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be
rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following :

How long does it take for them to rot down?
Was I suppossed to add an an activator?
Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist?

I've found it takes well over a year to rot leaves down.
The rotting process works best when the leaves are damp - not soggy,
and definitely not dry.

His Bobness, Duke of Flowerdew, recommends stuffing leaves into
binliners. Poke a few holes in the liners, wet the leaves thoroughly,
leave to stew for a year or so.

Leaves tend to rot down slightly differently from garden compost in
that it's more of a fungal process - but it never hurts to apply a
little activator in the form of a bucket of urine ( which is free! ).

I just rake them all into a binliner sans holes while they're still
moist, pack them down firmly, then tie the binliner and leave it stacked
out of sight for a couple of years. Makes lovely crumbly brown stuff.

regards
sarah


--
"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view,
is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley