Phisherman wrote:

On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 16:58:34 GMT, "Pati Rock" wrote:

It sounds lazy, but I was wondering if piling leaves upon bulb beds, shrub
beds, etc is beneficial at all or is it necessary to mulch completely?

thanks,

Pati


The problem with this is that you need to remove the leaves as soon as
the bulbs begin to sprout. Leaves make wonderful insulation. My
father grew roses in Cleveland Ohio and used leaves to protect the
plants from winter freezing.

It seems like this approach doesn't save much labor. Why not compost the
leaves this
season and use them for insulation the next. The advantage is that by leaving
the
compost in place, you are amending the soil and gaining an advantage from the
original
leaves.

I think the compost is a more efficient insulator than dry unchopped leaves.
There may
be a case for using leaves to bury fig trees, since that would take a huge
amount of compost,
but spreading compost on the garden and around trees makes a lot of sense.

My experience with leaves (like maple) is that they tend to mat up if not
shredded. They
do not compost well, even after sitting in a pile for a year.

I also agree with the comment on nitrogen being removed during the composting
process,
so I would not put unprocessed leaves on the garden, just for that reason
alone.

Sherwin D.

In article ,
"Cereus-validus..." wrote:

What in the heck does god have to do with anything?

We are talking about a garden. A garden is something that is a completely
artificial man-made environment. Most likely none of the plant you have in
your garden would ever be found growing together naturally in the wild.

I have snowberries, sword ferns, deer ferns, evergreen huckleberries,
western bleeding hearts, salal, & western corydalis growing all in the
same general vicinity of the garden. Would they be found growing together
in the wild? Yup. Did someone called God make them? Only if the moon is
made of cheese.

-paggers

"GrampysGurl" wrote in message
...

That's why it is best to shred the leaves. It prevents that problem from
happening in the first place.

God doesn't shred the leaves in the forest, I haven't seen Mother Nature
out
there doing it either )
Colleen
Zone 5 CT

--
"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"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

Leaving god to one side for a moment - I'd advise shredding them and turning them into leafmould (after as little as six months, you can use them as mulch). This year I left the leaves where they fell in the end section of my garden (called Dog Wood, because all the trees & shrubs there have attractive bark...) and they provide the perfect home for slugs, who are busy chomping their way through my hellebores and foxgloves.

Most likely none of the plant you have in
your garden would ever be found growing together naturally in the wild.



Don't bet on it my garden is almost 100% native, a few non natives will be
pulled as soon as a native replacement becomes available for me )

If the mulch is around the plant and not totally over the crown it isn't going
to hinder any growing of the plant in the spring.

Anything you plant in your garden that you got from somewhere else is not
native to your yard, Buckwheat.

Just because it is found somewhere else in your part of the world doesn't
mean that it is actually native to your immediate area.


"GrampysGurl" wrote in message
...
Most likely none of the plant you have in
your garden would ever be found growing together naturally in the wild.



Don't bet on it my garden is almost 100% native, a few non natives will be
pulled as soon as a native replacement becomes available for me )

If the mulch is around the plant and not totally over the crown it isn't
going
to hinder any growing of the plant in the spring.

Just because it is found somewhere else in your part of the world doesn't
mean that it is actually native to your immediate area.

Since it appears you've seen everything in my garden I am sure you are correct.
Love the "nick name" @@ ~~~ eye roll

I don't need to see anything in your garden, GrumpyGurl.

If you got the plants from somewhere else and put them in your garden, they
are not native. Its just that simple.

Your eyes must roll around a lot because there doesn't anything but empty
space between your ears.


"GrampysGurl" wrote in message
...

Just because it is found somewhere else in your part of the world doesn't
mean that it is actually native to your immediate area.

Since it appears you've seen everything in my garden I am sure you are
correct.
Love the "nick name" @@ ~~~ eye roll

Your eyes must roll around a lot because there doesn't anything but empty
space between your ears.

Bet your mama is proud, her little boy never grew up.

--
NEWS FLASH

The book "100 Tree Myths" by one of the foremost authorities worldwide
(SHIGO) today is now out of print. The book though, is online at:
http://www.chesco.com/~treeman/hardt...0TM/index.html

We hope you enjoy this. Please let me know how it looks on your computer.
I would love to hear from people who appreciate this type of stuff.
You can email at .

Other hard to get docs can be found he
http://www.chesco.com/~treeman/hardtoget/index.html

Sincerely,

John A. Keslick, Jr.
http://www.chesco.com/~treeman
Beware of so-called TREE EXPERTS who do not understand TREE BIOLOGY!
www.treedictionary.com

"Pati Rock" wrote in message
news:_w4nd.12765$tI3.9725@trndny01...
It sounds lazy, but I was wondering if piling leaves upon bulb beds, shrub
beds, etc is beneficial at all or is it necessary to mulch completely?

thanks,

Pati