leaf mould
 

How do you make this? So far I've been stuffing leaves into bin liners,
punching lots of little holes in them and leaving them in a corner. Will
this work and should they be put in the shed or can they be safely left out
(I'm not sure if they need to be kept dry). Thank you,
Hayley

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
How do you make this? So far I've been stuffing leaves into bin liners,
punching lots of little holes in them and leaving them in a corner. Will
this work and should they be put in the shed or can they be safely left
out
(I'm not sure if they need to be kept dry). Thank you,
Hayley

Hi Hayley,

Making them wet will actually speed up the decomposition, so leaving them
outside will be fine. I do exactly the same as you, but with the addition of
some water, and after a year have lovely crumbly leaf mould.

Cheers

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk

Nick Gray wrote:

: "H Ryder" wrote in message
: ...
: How do you make this? So far I've been stuffing leaves into bin liners,
: punching lots of little holes in them and leaving them in a corner. Will
: this work and should they be put in the shed or can they be safely left
: out
: (I'm not sure if they need to be kept dry). Thank you,
: Hayley
:
: Hi Hayley,

: Making them wet will actually speed up the decomposition, so leaving them
: outside will be fine. I do exactly the same as you, but with the addition of
: some water, and after a year have lovely crumbly leaf mould.

I have mine in an outdoor heap, held in by a back wall, 2 boards and
some mesh front and top. I mix in some grass cuttings and the usual
recycled beer/cider. However it takes my leaves 2 years to give me leaf
mould. However, I have leaves from sycamore and a plane tree out bulking
other leaves.

Jim

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
How do you make this? So far I've been stuffing leaves into bin liners,
punching lots of little holes in them and leaving them in a corner. Will
this work and should they be put in the shed or can they be safely left
out
(I'm not sure if they need to be kept dry). Thank you,
Hayley

What you are doing is fine
It does take time though and some leaves decompose faster than others
Mind you it would be best to have a proper compost bin and mix leaves with
grass cuttings , shreded paper , veg peelings and shredded prunings

"J Jackson" wrote in message
...
I have mine in an outdoor heap, held in by a back wall, 2 boards and
some mesh front and top. I mix in some grass cuttings and the usual
recycled beer/cider. However it takes my leaves 2 years to give me leaf
mould. However, I have leaves from sycamore and a plane tree out bulking
other leaves.



Don't use too much recycled cider or your leaf mould will smell like cats
pee. ;o)

--
Regards,
Alan

Preserve wildlife - pickle a SQUIRREL to reply.

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 20:04:16 +0000 (UTC), "nambucca"
wrote:


"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
How do you make this? So far I've been stuffing leaves into bin liners,
punching lots of little holes in them and leaving them in a corner. Will
this work and should they be put in the shed or can they be safely left
out
(I'm not sure if they need to be kept dry). Thank you,
Hayley

What you are doing is fine
It does take time though and some leaves decompose faster than others
Mind you it would be best to have a proper compost bin and mix leaves with
grass cuttings , shreded paper , veg peelings and shredded prunings

I've seen it suggested that leaves are better composted separately in
an open type container, wire frame or similar. The reason given was
that leaves are decomposed by fungal activity which needs air and
moisture, whereas 'normal' compost decomposition is bacterial which
proceeds well in a closed container. We get so many fallen leaves that
the other compost materials are overwhelmed by the sheer quantity and
the process takes an awfully long time. I'm going to try the separate
open bin process this autumn. and just leave them as long as it takes.
After all, the traditional method of making leafmould was just to
leave them in a big pile in the open.

Mind you it would be best to have a proper compost bin and mix leaves with
grass cuttings , shreded paper , veg peelings and shredded prunings


we have three, they are all buried under a huge pile of "garden stuff" - the
house had been on the market for ages when we bought it and I think that the
previous occupiers had stopped doing anything to the garden when they first
decided to sell :)

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

Apologies if this sounds blindly naive but...

Presumably not a good idea to use any leaves which show signs of
disease, notably black spot? Or does the whole process of 'rotting down'
eventually make that a mute point?

--
Flower Bobdew
South Facing Garden
South West: UK

"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
Mind you it would be best to have a proper compost bin and mix leaves
with
grass cuttings , shreded paper , veg peelings and shredded prunings


we have three, they are all buried under a huge pile of "garden stuff" -
the

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

Well in which case you should have lots of lovely compost to assist your
well drained alkaline soil become neutral and able to retain moisture
Spead it thickly on the beds etc from January onwards

In article , Jupiter
writes
On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 20:04:16 +0000 (UTC), "nambucca"
wrote:


"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
How do you make this? So far I've been stuffing leaves into bin liners,
punching lots of little holes in them and leaving them in a corner. Will
this work and should they be put in the shed or can they be safely left
out
(I'm not sure if they need to be kept dry). Thank you,
Hayley

What you are doing is fine
It does take time though and some leaves decompose faster than others
Mind you it would be best to have a proper compost bin and mix leaves with
grass cuttings , shreded paper , veg peelings and shredded prunings

I've seen it suggested that leaves are better composted separately in
an open type container, wire frame or similar. The reason given was
that leaves are decomposed by fungal activity which needs air and
moisture, whereas 'normal' compost decomposition is bacterial which
proceeds well in a closed container.

I can't see that it is as clear cut as that. There isn't *that* much
difference between a willowherb leaf and a privet leaf.

I presume it is to do with the proportion of relatively harder and
softer stuff in the heap. Even tree leaves will decompose in a 'normal'
heap, but they are slower than other things, so it's better, with autumn
quantities, to compost separately. And you need more of the softer stuff
to generate the heat for the hot process, so your leaf heap then has to
resort to the fungal process.

'Normal' compost decomposition for those of us who put anything and
everything on the heap also tends to be fungal. But the end result is
just as good.

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Kay wrote:

I presume it is to do with the proportion of relatively harder and
softer stuff in the heap. Even tree leaves will decompose in a
'normal' heap, but they are slower than other things, so it's better,
with autumn quantities, to compost separately. And you need more of
the softer stuff to generate the heat for the hot process, so your
leaf heap then has to resort to the fungal process.


And that leaves - larger ones in particular clump together in impermeable
layers that are starved of oxygen and impede water flow. Spreading leaves
over the lawn and running the mower over them a couple of times before
mixing in with general stuff and lots of grass clippings in particular works
very well.

pk

Flower Bobdew wrote:

: Apologies if this sounds blindly naive but...

: Presumably not a good idea to use any leaves which show signs of
: disease, notably black spot? Or does the whole process of 'rotting down'
: eventually make that a mute point?

ALL our sycamore leaves are covered in black spots and they all go in the
leaf mould pile.

I'm sure there are some diseases that should be kept out of leaf mould
piles, but I just pile everything in.

Jim

Alan Gabriel wrote:

: "J Jackson" wrote in message
: ...
: I have mine in an outdoor heap, held in by a back wall, 2 boards and
: some mesh front and top. I mix in some grass cuttings and the usual
: recycled beer/cider. However it takes my leaves 2 years to give me leaf
: mould. However, I have leaves from sycamore and a plane tree out bulking
: other leaves.
:
:

: Don't use too much recycled cider or your leaf mould will smell like cats
: pee. ;o)

dilute said recycled cider/beer with 5 parts water and use to make sure
your heap is damp, and no more. It breaks down, like the leaves etc.

Jim

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...

Alan Gabriel wrote:
: Don't use too much recycled cider or your leaf mould will smell like
cats
: pee. ;o)

Nonsense. If that was true my compost heaps would stink like Saturday
night in a pub urinal.


You obviously haven't been to a cider pub on the Mendips.

--
Regards,
Alan

Preserve wildlife - pickle a SQUIRREL to reply.

J Jackson writes

Flower Bobdew wrote:

: Apologies if this sounds blindly naive but...

: Presumably not a good idea to use any leaves which show signs of
: disease, notably black spot? Or does the whole process of 'rotting down'
: eventually make that a mute point?

ALL our sycamore leaves are covered in black spots and they all go in the
leaf mould pile.

I'm sure there are some diseases that should be kept out of leaf mould
piles, but I just pile everything in.

And you've been doing this for a number of years without any apparent
problems, Jim?

--
Flower Bobdew
South Facing Garden
South West: UK