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Composting Leaves
I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an
old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? |
Composting Leaves
On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 08:52:37 +0100, "janet.bennett"
wrote: ~I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an ~old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be ~rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : ~ ~ How long does it take for them to rot down? ~ Was I suppossed to add an an activator? ~ Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? ~ At least a year / not necessarily but it helps / keep damp :-) I have oodles of sycamore leaves and they take over two years as they're tough things. After three years of endless sweeping in the rain and a garage full of bin liners I resorted to a £50 garden vac with shredder blade to break them down a bit, so I'm hoping that lot break down faster (they certainly take up less room). I'll let you know next autumn!!! Beech may well break down faster, but the rule of thumb is usually a year. -- jane Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist but you have ceased to live. Mark Twain Please remove nospam from replies, thanks! |
Composting Leaves
"janet.bennett" wrote in message ... I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? 2 years minimum I find that spreading leaves on the lawn and running over a couple of times with a rotary mower to cut the leave small accelerates the process. pk |
Composting Leaves
On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 08:52:37 +0100, "janet.bennett"
wrote: I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? I've found it takes well over a year to rot leaves down. The rotting process works best when the leaves are damp - not soggy, and definitely not dry. His Bobness, Duke of Flowerdew, recommends stuffing leaves into binliners. Poke a few holes in the liners, wet the leaves thoroughly, leave to stew for a year or so. Leaves tend to rot down slightly differently from garden compost in that it's more of a fungal process - but it never hurts to apply a little activator in the form of a bucket of urine ( which is free! ). Regards, -- Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations www.shwoodwind.co.uk Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk |
Composting Leaves
Stephen Howard wrote:
On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 08:52:37 +0100, "janet.bennett" wrote: I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? I've found it takes well over a year to rot leaves down. The rotting process works best when the leaves are damp - not soggy, and definitely not dry. His Bobness, Duke of Flowerdew, recommends stuffing leaves into binliners. Poke a few holes in the liners, wet the leaves thoroughly, leave to stew for a year or so. Leaves tend to rot down slightly differently from garden compost in that it's more of a fungal process - but it never hurts to apply a little activator in the form of a bucket of urine ( which is free! ). I just rake them all into a binliner sans holes while they're still moist, pack them down firmly, then tie the binliner and leave it stacked out of sight for a couple of years. Makes lovely crumbly brown stuff. regards sarah -- "Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley |
Composting Leaves
In article , janet.bennett janet@ben
nett2075.freeserve.co.uk writes I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? If you add a little freshly cut grass to them and mix it all up really well, keeping it just damp, you should have some leaf mould in a year. You need a couple of good handfuls of grass per bin bag - so you can extrapolate for a dustbinfull. We tend to add our leaves to the compost heap. We mix last year's leaves (which we collected and bagged in the autumn) in with this year's grass cuttings for spreading on the flower beds next year. -- Jane Ransom in Lancaster. I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg but if you need to email me for any other reason, put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com |
Composting Leaves
I too mix leaves in with grass and shrub shreddings etc add the accelerator
and turn twice during the year .......after that compost is perfect crumbly brown stuff "Jane Ransom" wrote in message ... In article , janet.bennett janet@ben nett2075.freeserve.co.uk writes I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? If you add a little freshly cut grass to them and mix it all up really well, keeping it just damp, you should have some leaf mould in a year. You need a couple of good handfuls of grass per bin bag - so you can extrapolate for a dustbinfull. We tend to add our leaves to the compost heap. We mix last year's leaves (which we collected and bagged in the autumn) in with this year's grass cuttings for spreading on the flower beds next year. -- Jane Ransom in Lancaster. I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg but if you need to email me for any other reason, put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com |
Composting Leaves
On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 18:31:52 +0100, (swroot)
wrote: I just rake them all into a binliner sans holes while they're still moist, pack them down firmly, then tie the binliner and leave it stacked out of sight for a couple of years. Makes lovely crumbly brown stuff. Ah, it's 'sans holes' is it? Bugger...looks like that's my weekend sorted then...rebagging leaf compost :( I'd better get a few beers in then! Regards, -- Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk |
Composting Leaves
Stephen Howard wrote:
On Tue, 22 Apr 2003 18:31:52 +0100, (swroot) wrote: I just rake them all into a binliner sans holes while they're still moist, pack them down firmly, then tie the binliner and leave it stacked out of sight for a couple of years. Makes lovely crumbly brown stuff. Ah, it's 'sans holes' is it? Bugger...looks like that's my weekend sorted then...rebagging leaf compost :( I'd better get a few beers in then! You can always recycle that onto the leaves :-) I don't know that holes are a Bad Thing; I started without them because it seemed to me the leaves would rot most effectively if they stayed moist. regards sarah -- "Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth." Aldous Huxley |
Composting Leaves
Thanks for your help.
"janet.bennett" wrote in message ... I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? |
Composting Leaves
" I had a peek in one of the bags, the few holes haven't made much difference by the looks of it - the leaves have effectively blocked them up. I also have a heap of leaves enclosed in a chickenwire cage - both the bags and the heap have been standing over a year now, and the bagged leaves are in a far more advanced state of decomposition. Regards, Autumn/Winter 2001 some children, at the school I work, collected leaves from the park next door the school. These were stored in black plastic bags with holes cut in them. In February this year we checked the bags and discovered that not much had happened to the leaves so we moved them to the compost bins where, hopefully, they are rotting away amongst the half eaten fruit (our school is part of the National Fruit Scheme), shredded garden prunings and shredded paper. Natalie |
Composting Leaves
An elderly gardening client of mine asked one year to spread all the leaves
collected from his lawns over the veggie beds. I did so, within three months all the leaves were worm food: literally! So I would suggest to simply mulch with them, they will retain water in the turned soil and feed the worms. Neil "janet.bennett" wrote in message ... I collected a quantity of beech leaves last autumn and placed them in an old dustbin (holes in the side - covered with lid) but they don't seem to be rotting down. Can someone give me advice on the following : How long does it take for them to rot down? Was I suppossed to add an an activator? Do they need to be really 'wet' or 'just moist? |
I collected all of mine in a big bin liner. Then I get a pair of old garden shears and absolutly pulverize them into little pieces.
That reduces 3 bags into only 1 bag full. Then hose them down with water, get a kitchen glove and mix it all in proper making sure every leaf is wet. Add some grass clippings and then stack the bags on top of each other. They will be ready in less than a year. I checked recently, the fungus has set to work, ants, woodlices etc. Most of them are brown some are black. :) |
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