What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?


On Mon, 02 May 2005 11:55:50 -0700, David Ross
wrote:

msterspy wrote:

I live in the Boston area and I have about 5 oak trees and two pines.
I get a lot of leaves and I recently contracted a guy to move all of
the leaves to the rear corner of the yard. $300 for probably 1/2 day
work. Everything is expensive in the Boston area. Anyway, it would be
very costly to have the leaves carted off to the dump. The yard slopes
away form the house and it would be cost a lot more to remove the
pile.
I would like to add something like lime to speed up the decompostion.
Is this a good plan? Is there any other beter way to speed up the
proceess. There will be a huge pile of leaves and it builds up every
year.

After reading various replies in this thread, here are a few
comments.

Oak leafmold is far superior to compost for growing camellias,
azaleas, rhododendrons, and other acid-loving plants.
Commerically, it sells for more than compost.

Don't add lime. Just add nitrogen. Stir on occasion to bring
fresh oxygen into the center of the pile. Make sure it stays moist
without being soggy. It may take longer to become usable than
regular compost. (My compost pile is mostly leafmold. It's about
1/3 oak with more than half the leaves from my ash tree.)

If the pile is large enough, chopping is not necessary. But
stirring is mandatory. As decomposing progresses, stirring will
not only bring oxygen into the pile but will also break up the
leaves.

After you spread the composted leafmold around your garden, then
you can add a little lime if your soil is already acidic. (My soil
is sufficiently alkaline that I keep using soil sulfur and
sulfate-containing nutrients.)

msterspy wrote:

What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?

Use any off-brand generic lawn fertilizer that DOES NOT contain
weed killer. Or get a small bag of urea (sometimes rated 50-0-0)
and use very sparingly.

If you prefer something "organic" (although any chemist will tell
you urea is organic), use blood meal; but then stir immediately to
prevent it from attracting flies, dogs, or cats. Or you can use
guano (bat, chicken, or seabird). Manure is generally too weak in
nutrients to help.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at URL:http://www.rossde.com/garden/

On Mon, 02 May 2005 20:31:30 GMT, msterspy
wrote:

What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?




HD sells 34-0-0. Very inexpensive. (I use this to fertilize
deciduous trees in the fall.)

David Ross wrote:

msterspy wrote:

What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?


Use any off-brand generic lawn fertilizer that DOES NOT contain
weed killer. Or get a small bag of urea (sometimes rated 50-0-0)
and use very sparingly.

If you prefer something "organic" (although any chemist will tell
you urea is organic), use blood meal; but then stir immediately to
prevent it from attracting flies, dogs, or cats. Or you can use
guano (bat, chicken, or seabird). Manure is generally too weak in
nutrients to help.

Just gets some cheap 10-10-10 generic fertilizer. It works fine. A
big bag will cost about $5 and you can use it on anything.

Thank you all for your help. Will these fertilizers cause the leaves
to disintegrate quickly?

Also, it seems to me that keeping the leaves on my property is the
"right" thing to do since the trees take a lot out of the soil.

My neighbors bag their leaves and throw them in the town dump.

I used to do that but it is a tremendous amount of work.


On Tue, 03 May 2005 00:09:49 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

On Mon, 02 May 2005 20:31:30 GMT, msterspy
wrote:

What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?




HD sells 34-0-0. Very inexpensive. (I use this to fertilize
deciduous trees in the fall.)

msterspy wrote:
What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?

Use some liquid fish fertilizer it's 5-1-1.

--

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

Phisherman wrote:
On Mon, 02 May 2005 20:31:30 GMT, msterspy
wrote:

What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?




HD sells 34-0-0. Very inexpensive. (I use this to fertilize
deciduous trees in the fall.)

That is just crazy.

--

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

"msterspy" wrote in message
...
Thank you all for your help. Will these fertilizers cause the leaves
to disintegrate quickly?

Maybe. But, so will battery acid. Since you're trying to encourage
organic decay, using an organic form of nitrogen won't wipe out all the good
bacteria, worms, etc. Get a 50 lb. bag of alfalfa meal (about $10 from a
feed store) and soak about 5 lbs. in a 5 gallon bucket and mix into your
leaves. Cheap and healthy.

Also, it seems to me that keeping the leaves on my property is the
"right" thing to do since the trees take a lot out of the soil.

My neighbors bag their leaves and throw them in the town dump.

I used to do that but it is a tremendous amount of work.


On Tue, 03 May 2005 00:09:49 GMT, Phisherman wrote:

On Mon, 02 May 2005 20:31:30 GMT, msterspy
wrote:

What should I get at my local hardware store / Home Depot to add
Nitrogen?




HD sells 34-0-0. Very inexpensive. (I use this to fertilize
deciduous trees in the fall.)