Re: Leaves dropping late?
Posted: December 3rd, 2023, 7:41 pm
88V8 wrote:servodude wrote:nearly ... the really anti-social ones blow them to an abritrary point from what they consider their "space" with a crappy 2-stroke device at stupid o'clock
Yes... the chap up the lane, an emphatic non-gardener who bought a place with half an acre and many trees, I have at least convinced him not to burn them, but already he's been out with his two-stroke noise maker blowing the leaves off his frontage and over the lane
kempiejon wrote:At a previous house I bagged up my leaves to rot down for the black gold that leaf mould apparently is for gardeners. Loads more trees and lawns than I have now, they took years. I tried specific loose weave jute bags because I thought the plastic bags with holes in them didn't have enough air and moisture flow so that was why they were taking too long; I think 4 or 5 years before I felt they were ready.
In our previous house I made a separate slatted wooden bin for leaves, about 6x3' and 3' high to which I could add another row to make it 4'. In there. most leaves rotted down in a year, the exception being walnut which seemed particularly tough, more like two years.
I think the key to rotting is moisture, same as for general compost. Before bagging the leaves, they need to be wet.
Then nature will do its thing.
Dry leaves will mummify, like King Tut, but less golden.
V8
AIUI kitchen scraps and vegetable matter in a compost bin are broken down by bacteria, which seem to generate enough moisture to keep the mass fairly damp. Autumn leaves OTOH are broken down by fungi, and need extra moisture from rain etc. I have a large pen, made of plastic covered wire mesh, with a stout post at each corner. This takes about 3 years worth of leaves, so I remove to top layer when I want to dig it out, and the two lower layers are 2-3 years old, which is enough to make good leaf mould from the predominant oak leaves.