fallen leaves as mulch
 

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

Its best to either compost it or run it through a shredder first.


"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

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

I do it without shredding. It's great around roses, camellias,
azaleas, and other shrubs. In the summer, this keeps the soil cool
and moist, reducing the amount of watering I have to do.

But you have to be careful about not covering desirable plants.
It's too easy to smother low-growing plants (e.g., ground cover).
Be sure that you don't pile the leaves higher than small bulbs can
grow.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See http://www.mozilla.org/.

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?

Depends on how many leaves, what kind of weather you have in the winter,
and what's growing there.

There is no single, right answer. However, if you pile unshredded leaves
high enough, the pile is going to be there longer than next spring. You
may just be deferring work even if you're piling them on an empty bed
that's waiting for annuals to be planted in spring.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Black & Decker Landscaping Tools & Parts:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker

In article _w4nd.12765$tI3.9725@trndny01, "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

Its what I do & the gardens certainly seem to benifit by it. With our wet
temperate winters on Puget Sound, there's nothing left of the leaves but a
few skeletons by early spring, it's all the world's best leafmold in no
time. I was pleased to see one of our local television gardening stars on
Gardening with Cisco in one episode going all "Oo-la-la!" at the joy of
mulching with leaves in his garden in autumn, & giddily worried about
those people who foolishly bag their leaves & sit them on the curb for the
city compost.

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

"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?

People who raise fig trees outdoors here in Pennsylvania build a barrier
around their fig trees and fill the barrier with whole leaves to protect
the fig trees during our winters. It works for figs. In the spring
they must remove the leaves, so they compost them then.

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

Its best to either compost it or run it through a shredder first.

But if you mix the leaves into the general heap of composted matter, you
don't end up with leafmold, which is great stuff for the garden. And
unless you have gigantic leaves there is no reason to shred. Extremely
large leaves might function as a water barrier keeping the ground too dry
in spots. Most of the leaves that fall in my yard are beeches, hornbeam,
cherries, Japanese maples, oak -- & others all small enough to not need
mulching. I get a few big leaves from a Bigleaf maple that's not in my
yard but sheds into my yard, & these as much as I can manage I put on an
area of tulip bulbs which can benefit from the slight ability of the
largest leaves to provide a winter water barrier for a short while before
breaking down into leafmold.

I dunno how well it'd work in much colder areas where it takes longer for
leaves to break down, but I would think fallen leaves would be the most
natural mulch possible, anywhere where deciduous trees would be growing.

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

I do it without shredding.
But you have to be careful about not covering desirable plants.
It's too easy to smother low-growing plants (e.g., ground cover).
Be sure that you don't pile the leaves higher than small bulbs can
grow.


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


"David Ross" wrote in message
...
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

I do it without shredding. It's great around roses, camellias,
azaleas, and other shrubs. In the summer, this keeps the soil cool
and moist, reducing the amount of watering I have to do.

But you have to be careful about not covering desirable plants.
It's too easy to smother low-growing plants (e.g., ground cover).
Be sure that you don't pile the leaves higher than small bulbs can
grow.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See http://www.mozilla.org/.

Piling new leaves on can rob the soil of nitrogen. You really need to rot the leaves into leaf mould for a year to make it beneficial.

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.

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 :o)
Colleen
Zone 5 CT

GrampysGurl wrote:

God doesn't shred the leaves in the forest, I haven't seen Mother
Nature out
there doing it either :o)

Neither God nor Mother Nature plant in beds, either. Nor do they move
the leaves into piles.

If you want to use the logic that if God and Mother Nature don't do it
that way, then there is no need to ever go out and do anything in your
garden. Let God and Mother Nature take care of the weeding, pruning,
soil amending, and plant propogation.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Black & Decker Landscaping Tools & Parts:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/blackanddecker

In article ,
(GrampysGurl) wrote:


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,

Oh yeh? When last I visited Eden, God was not only shredding leaves to put
around the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil, but he was singing the old
gospel tune "Gimme summa dat ol' time religion."

I haven't seen Mother Nature out
there doing it either :o)

She was there, & told God to wipe the mud from his shoes before coming in
for lunch. She'd cooked Him a lovely roast leviathan.

-paggers

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

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.


"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 :o)
Colleen
Zone 5 CT

"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 :o)
Colleen
Zone 5 CT

God may not shred leaves in the forest or on the lawns in my neighborhood,
but the wind sure does. It also blows leaves into great piles against
fences, around houses and under TREES too.