I too mix leaves in with grass and shrub shreddings etc add the accelerator
and turn twice during the year .......after that compost is perfect crumbly
brown stuff
"Jane Ransom" wrote in message
...
In article , janet.bennett janet@ben
nett2075.freeserve.co.uk writes
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?

If you add a little freshly cut grass to them and mix it all up really
well, keeping it just damp, you should have some leaf mould in a year.
You need a couple of good handfuls of grass per bin bag - so you can
extrapolate for a dustbinfull.

We tend to add our leaves to the compost heap. We mix last year's leaves
(which we collected and bagged in the autumn) in with this year's grass
cuttings for spreading on the flower beds next year.
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com