some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a few months
into leaf mulch.

Well, I went into the chicken wire enclosure, and found piles of wet leaves and no
leaf mulch. Doesn't look like anything happened at all over the past few months.
Packed about 40 bags of dead leaves and dropped them off at the landfill.

So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet and turning
every now and then.

Anyone know???

Thanks !!!

Peter

Peter wrote in message news

some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues
of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a
chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a
few months
into leaf mulch.

Do you mean leaf mold? If that is what you mean then leaf mold takes quite a
bit longer. From what I understand the earliest is one year before you see
any signs of composted leaves. Its quite easy to create: leave in a pile and
forget for a year or two.

When referring the leaves as a mulch people are usually putting shredded
leaves around the base of plants. The general purpose of this would be for
water retention, soil protection, and fertilizer. They are shredded by lawn
mower, shredders, and chipper/grinders.

Fito

Peter wrote in message news

some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues
of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a
chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a
few months
into leaf mulch.

Well, I went into the chicken wire enclosure, and found piles of wet
leaves and no
leaf mulch. Doesn't look like anything happened at all over the past few
months.
Packed about 40 bags of dead leaves and dropped them off at the landfill.

So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems
to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet
and turning
every now and then.

Anyone know???

You need to introduce some "green" stuff to get the pile hot. The easiest
I've found is to use rabbit food, which is mostly alfalfa meal. I get a
couple of $5 bags from the feed store, soak it in water and distribute it in
layers with the leaves. The pile gets hot and steamy in a day or so. I
covered mine in plastic to retain the moisture and heat and I had usable
compost in about three months...

Leaves are basically a big pile of carbon. The process of breakdown will be
limited by cooler temps temperature, moisture, and supplies of oxygen,
nitrogen, etc. Turning the pile is key to entrain oxygen and evacuate CO2 so
the decomp fauna is not dominated by anaerobic microbes.

--
Mike LaMana, MS
Heartwood Consulting Services, LLC
Toms River, NJ
www.HeartwoodConsulting.net




Peter wrote in message news

some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues
of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a
chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a
few months
into leaf mulch.

Well, I went into the chicken wire enclosure, and found piles of wet
leaves and no
leaf mulch. Doesn't look like anything happened at all over the past few
months.
Packed about 40 bags of dead leaves and dropped them off at the landfill.

So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems
to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet
and turning
every now and then.

Anyone know???

Thanks !!!

Peter

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 09:51:38 -0400, Peter wrote:
some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a few months
into leaf mulch.

Well, I went into the chicken wire enclosure, and found piles of wet leaves and no
leaf mulch. Doesn't look like anything happened at all over the past few months.
Packed about 40 bags of dead leaves and dropped them off at the landfill.
You took 40 bags of good organic material and threw it in a landfill
with the other toxic elements? What were you thinking?

Just kidding, with a little ribbing. I'm too lazy to do such a thing
so its easy for me to laugh. I do think its a waste of good material,
40 bags worth! It may be good for the landfill to get some good
organics in there to mutate
So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet and turning
every now and then.
Obviously one secret is a little patience. A few months, especially
over the winter, is not a long time to wait for leaves to break down.
Another secret is maintaining green vs brown, proper moisture, size,
light, etc. THat can speed things up a lot.

Except for trying to get a reasonable mix of green vs brown, I don't
bother much myself. Not enough patience for that. I place piles out
of the way, and do eventually get some good dark compost. I don't
know exactly how long. Just eventually, and I can wait.

If you're willing to take on the work to drag 40 bags worth of leaves
to the landfill, then the work it takes to turn them into good mulch
instead is well within you're grasp.
Peter

Swyck

Peter wrote:
So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet and turning
every now and then.

It would help to chop up the leaves. Pile up the leaves, run the mower
over it and then use it in your pile. Breaks down *much* quicker. If
you are looking to get it done quickly, you would need to balance the
browns with some greens - used coffee grounds from Starbucks (they have
a 'Grounds for the Garden' program) works great. Me, I get the chopped
up leaves from the county leaf mulch pile, pile it on my flower beds,
and over time, it all breaks down into yummy stuff. The plants love it.

Suja

In article P7Uhc.12640$uF3.9294@lakeread04, Suja wrote:

Peter wrote:
So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves
seems to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them
wet and turning
every now and then.

It would help to chop up the leaves. Pile up the leaves, run the mower
over it and then use it in your pile. Breaks down *much* quicker. If
you are looking to get it done quickly, you would need to balance the
browns with some greens - used coffee grounds from Starbucks (they have
a 'Grounds for the Garden' program) works great. Me, I get the chopped
up leaves from the county leaf mulch pile, pile it on my flower beds,
and over time, it all breaks down into yummy stuff. The plants love it.

Suja

I usually let fallen leaves serve as totally natural autumn & winter
mulch. If I need to get the leaves off cyclamen beds, I rake them over
some other location that won't feel smothered. In our wet winters, the
leaves turn to leafmold right in the garden by winter's end, contact with
moist ground being sufficient. Unless there are LARGE leaves they won't
need chopping, but large leaves can become a water-barriers, which can be
a good thing for areas with bulbs that aren't fond of as much dampness as
winter brings them here.

For extra leaves what I've done is stuff them wet in plastic bags, shove
the sealed bags back in the crawlspace under the deck, & a year or so
later they come out prefect black leafmold. I do put a little bit of moist
soil in the sacks but only to make sure whiteworms are introduced.
Whiteworms are miniature earthwoms that just LOVE to live in piles of
leaves & greatly assist the break-down into leafmold; dry ground wouldn't
have such beasties & leaves won't reduce down to leafmold without
SOMEthing alive that helps leaves rot away. After a year bagged in the
crawlspace, only have to open the bag a bit to see if smells all right. If
it does not smell quite nice, it's not ready, so back in the crawlspace
the bags stay a bit longer. When finished though this is the
sweetest-smelling crumbly black stuff that looks great spread over the
surface of a planting bed. One never gets much at a time though; a big bag
of leaves breaks down into only one bucket of leafmold.

The chicken wire trick if kept moist ought to work fine, but only the
leaves compacted on the bottom are reduced to leafmold with any speed,
where worms & fungus interact best with the dead leaves. For the whole
pile it won't happen as quickly as if they were sealed in bags, & the only
real purpose of the chickenwire is to make it possible to stack the leaves
higher in a finite space for a year or two, without them blowing away or
spreading out over too large an area.

They can also of course be used as "browns" in regular compost, though you
end up with more compost instead of leafmold. Pure leafmold is dark & very
pretty. It is also almost devoid of nitrogen, but works as a fertilizer
not by being itself much of a plant food, but by encouraging
nitrogen-manufacturing microbial activity in the garden.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 09:51:38 -0400, Peter wrote:


some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a few months
into leaf mulch.

Well, I went into the chicken wire enclosure, and found piles of wet leaves and no
leaf mulch. Doesn't look like anything happened at all over the past few months.
Packed about 40 bags of dead leaves and dropped them off at the landfill.

So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet and turning
every now and then.

Anyone know???

Thanks !!!

Peter

Leaf mulch is just that--leaf mulch, but leaf mold is something very
special. Wow Peter! I can't believe you took "gardener's gold" to the
landfill! Leaf mold is probably the best form of humus, ranking
first in comparison to other forms of humus including composted
manures. Although you can gather leaf mold from the woodlands, it is
unwise to do so. I have never seen any leaf mold sold in stores nor
co-ops, but you can make your own. You have everything needed and the
procedure correct, all except for one ingredient--patience. After
the first year, you get a little leaf mold, but the second year
something happens. The leaf structure breaks down to a mass of very
fertile black humus. Warm weather greatly speeds the decomposition.
Leaf mold made in this manner will contain 45 to 55% of mineral-like
substances. As soon as the leaf mold is ready, dry it out else it
will continue to decompose and disappear. Before you can use it for
houseplants, it must be screened, sterilized, dried, and screened
again. The volume of leaves to leaf mold is about 30 to 1. One part
leaf mold should be used for 5 parts potting soil. Do not use
limestone on the leaves--it won't speed the process and possibly ruin
the humus composition.

I'd like to say a big "Thank You" to all who responded. (Sorry it took so long,
the computer system was overwhemed with all the microsoft patches and
nothing worked outside of the operating system).

Lots of good information, and different veiwpoints / methods of turning
the leaves into mold. I have plenty of leaves but few places to store them
for any period of time... so many of the suggestions will be put to use this
coming fall and hopefully, there will be a lot of good organic material to
be added to the garden beds each year.

Thanks again for taking the time to help out a fellow gardener...

Peter


On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 09:51:38 -0400, Peter wrote:


some time back around December, a few posters were extolling the virtues of leaf mulch.
One person (paghat, I think it was) mentioned putting the leafs into a chicken wire
enclosure and keeping them wet, claiming that they would break down in a few months
into leaf mulch.

Well, I went into the chicken wire enclosure, and found piles of wet leaves and no
leaf mulch. Doesn't look like anything happened at all over the past few months.
Packed about 40 bags of dead leaves and dropped them off at the landfill.

So, what is the secret??? Obviously getting leaf mulch from leaves seems to be more
of an involved process than just stacking the leaves, keeping them wet and turning
every now and then.

Anyone know???

Thanks !!!

Peter

You have to put some form of nitrogen on them. Coffee grounds, vegetable
peelings, lawn clippings, etc.