Last fall I had many, many truckloads of leaves dumped on my property to use
as soil ...when... they break down.

I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

I'd like to dump in a foot or so into my veg garden, as I do with horse
manure each year, but I'm wondering if it would detract from plantings
rather than enrich the soil.

Will more nutrients be used up to break down the leaves than feed the
vegetables?

--

Barry

Good question. The leaves will break down, but may temporarly tie up the
nitrogen reserves in your soil. Evidence of this is yellow leaves. When the
leaves are decayed the problem resloves. If you want to till in leaves you can
add extra nitrogen,perhaps in the form of blood meal. Too many leaves can also
lower the pH of the soil.

Brynk wrote:

Last fall I had many, many truckloads of leaves dumped on my property to use
as soil ...when... they break down.

I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

I'd like to dump in a foot or so into my veg garden, as I do with horse
manure each year, but I'm wondering if it would detract from plantings
rather than enrich the soil.

Will more nutrients be used up to break down the leaves than feed the
vegetables?

--

Barry

Brynk wrote:
I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

What is timber soil?

--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

Thanks Alice
Guess I'll just use it for mulch this year in the veg garden

What about tilling it into soil where I want to enrich the soil for grass?
Soil is currently very sandy and holds little moisture so I'm thinking the
loss of energy used to breakdown the leaves will be outweighed by more
moisture retention.


.......did I really spell detract that way?g

--

Barry


"Alice Gamewell" wrote in message
...
Good question. The leaves will break down, but may temporarly tie up the
nitrogen reserves in your soil. Evidence of this is yellow leaves. When
the
leaves are decayed the problem resloves. If you want to till in leaves
you can
add extra nitrogen,perhaps in the form of blood meal. Too many leaves can
also
lower the pH of the soil.

Brynk wrote:

Last fall I had many, many truckloads of leaves dumped on my property to
use
as soil ...when... they break down.

I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

I'd like to dump in a foot or so into my veg garden, as I do with horse
manure each year, but I'm wondering if it would detract from plantings
rather than enrich the soil.

Will more nutrients be used up to break down the leaves than feed the
vegetables?

--

Barry

I'm not sure if that description is local or universal, but....

Soil in hardwood areas where most new soil is from hardwood leaves and
woodland plants.
Mostly composed of sandy and stone materials which perc fast.

--

Barry


"Travis" wrote in message
...
Brynk wrote:
I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

What is timber soil?

--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

Brynk wrote:
Last fall I had many, many truckloads of leaves dumped on my property to use
as soil ...when... they break down.

I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

I'd like to dump in a foot or so into my veg garden, as I do with horse
manure each year, but I'm wondering if it would detract from plantings
rather than enrich the soil.

Will more nutrients be used up to break down the leaves than feed the
vegetables?

--

Barry


Both. The leaves will temporarily tie up nitrogen in the soil, and they
will eventually release it again, along with trace elements and other
goodies. Go ahead and do it, and plan on supplying extra nitrogen
fertlizer -- maybe water the plants with Miracle Grow. Don't add a bunch
of ammonium sulfate to the soil or you will drive away the worms. Maybe a
little fertlizer grade urea or cottonseed meal would be good though.

Bob

--
Have a Windows® computer that is powered on for hours at a time? Join the
search for a cure for cancer: http://grid.org/projects/cancer/

sorry, I don't mean to nitpick, but "temporarily" is a relative term.

Will it inhibit just the early growth, but break down soon enuf for this
season's crop?

As far as additives, I try to avoid them, since it's a decent sized garden
and that can get expensive
Last year we did use blood meal in a few rows and the difference was
noticeable.

Thanks

Barry


"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
Brynk wrote:
Last fall I had many, many truckloads of leaves dumped on my property to
use
as soil ...when... they break down.

I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

I'd like to dump in a foot or so into my veg garden, as I do with horse
manure each year, but I'm wondering if it would detract from plantings
rather than enrich the soil.

Will more nutrients be used up to break down the leaves than feed the
vegetables?

--

Barry


Both. The leaves will temporarily tie up nitrogen in the soil, and they
will eventually release it again, along with trace elements and other
goodies. Go ahead and do it, and plan on supplying extra nitrogen
fertlizer -- maybe water the plants with Miracle Grow. Don't add a bunch
of ammonium sulfate to the soil or you will drive away the worms. Maybe a
little fertlizer grade urea or cottonseed meal would be good though.

Bob

--
Have a Windows® computer that is powered on for hours at a time? Join the
search for a cure for cancer: http://grid.org/projects/cancer/

I have no way of knowing what "temporarily" means. It depends on the
temperature and moisture and bacterial activity of your soil. Just be
aware that the rotting leaves are competing with your crops for nitrogen,
so either add a little supplemental nitrogen from the start, or watch your
plants for signs of nitrogen deficiency and treat with fast acting
chemicals (like foliar applied Miricle Grow) when it appears.

Can you compost the leaves first? Do you have access to a truck load of
chicken manure to compost with them?

Bob


Brynk wrote:
sorry, I don't mean to nitpick, but "temporarily" is a relative term.

Will it inhibit just the early growth, but break down soon enuf for this
season's crop?

As far as additives, I try to avoid them, since it's a decent sized garden
and that can get expensive
Last year we did use blood meal in a few rows and the difference was
noticeable.

Thanks

Barry


"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...

Brynk wrote:

Last fall I had many, many truckloads of leaves dumped on my property to

use

as soil ...when... they break down.

I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

I'd like to dump in a foot or so into my veg garden, as I do with horse
manure each year, but I'm wondering if it would detract from plantings
rather than enrich the soil.

Will more nutrients be used up to break down the leaves than feed the
vegetables?

--

Barry


Both. The leaves will temporarily tie up nitrogen in the soil, and they
will eventually release it again, along with trace elements and other
goodies. Go ahead and do it, and plan on supplying extra nitrogen
fertlizer -- maybe water the plants with Miracle Grow. Don't add a bunch
of ammonium sulfate to the soil or you will drive away the worms. Maybe a
little fertlizer grade urea or cottonseed meal would be good though.

Bob

--
Have a Windows® computer that is powered on for hours at a time? Join the
search for a cure for cancer: http://grid.org/projects/cancer/

compost 1st?
wouldn't that take weeks?

I got the leaves last fall...about 150 truckloads and have been turning
about half of it 2-3 times a month with little noticeable breakdown

no chicken manure but lots of horse manure....just fresh stuff tho. the
older stuff's already mixed in the garden soil

--

Barry


"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
I have no way of knowing what "temporarily" means. It depends on the
temperature and moisture and bacterial activity of your soil. Just be
aware that the rotting leaves are competing with your crops for nitrogen,
so either add a little supplemental nitrogen from the start, or watch your
plants for signs of nitrogen deficiency and treat with fast acting
chemicals (like foliar applied Miricle Grow) when it appears.

Can you compost the leaves first? Do you have access to a truck load of
chicken manure to compost with them?

Bob


Brynk wrote:
sorry, I don't mean to nitpick, but "temporarily" is a relative term.

Will it inhibit just the early growth, but break down soon enuf for this
season's crop?

As far as additives, I try to avoid them, since it's a decent sized
garden
and that can get expensive
Last year we did use blood meal in a few rows and the difference was
noticeable.

Thanks

Barry


"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...

Brynk wrote:

Last fall I had many, many truckloads of leaves dumped on my property
to

use

as soil ...when... they break down.

I have timber soil which is poor for most plantings.

I'd like to dump in a foot or so into my veg garden, as I do with horse
manure each year, but I'm wondering if it would detract from plantings
rather than enrich the soil.

Will more nutrients be used up to break down the leaves than feed the
vegetables?

--

Barry


Both. The leaves will temporarily tie up nitrogen in the soil, and they
will eventually release it again, along with trace elements and other
goodies. Go ahead and do it, and plan on supplying extra nitrogen
fertlizer -- maybe water the plants with Miracle Grow. Don't add a
bunch
of ammonium sulfate to the soil or you will drive away the worms. Maybe
a
little fertlizer grade urea or cottonseed meal would be good though.

Bob

--
Have a Windows® computer that is powered on for hours at a time? Join
the
search for a cure for cancer: http://grid.org/projects/cancer/

Brynk wrote:
I'm not sure if that description is local or universal, but....

Soil in hardwood areas where most new soil is from hardwood leaves and
woodland plants.
Mostly composed of sandy and stone materials which perc fast.

Out here we would call that glacial till. The stuff left when the glaciers
receded after the last ice age.

--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8b
Sunset Zone 5

Brynk wrote:

I'm not sure if that description is local or universal, but....

Soil in hardwood areas where most new soil is from hardwood leaves and
woodland plants.
Mostly composed of sandy and stone materials which perc fast.


umm here it forms humus so thick you can cut it and lift it. drop a
european plant in this and they turn funny colors