Regular composting(C:N) is broken down through bacterial processes. Leaf mold is broken down through fungal processes. Both composting methods are advantageous to one another, by adding both bacterial and fungal organisms to the soil.
I am starting a new garden bed so in the fall I mixed leaves, grass clippings together and put coffee grounds and kitchen scraps on it all winter long. I turn it one to two times as week as weather permits, it has been a mild winter.
We dump tons of leaves in the garden along with used straw from the chicken coops in the fall and let the chickens dig around in it all winter. By spring it's ready to plant in. Chickens are amazing helpers.
I raked up a bunch of leaves and made a huge pile at the bottom of my three year old's backyard slide. She slides into them, demands I raked them up again, and this goes on and on. The result at the bottom is leaf confetti so fine I have trouble getting it out of the grass haha. All this to say chickens and children are both amazing helpers 😂
We mow over our leaves, rake them up again, and mow over them again. We do this about 3 - 4 times until they are well ground up and we use the soil it makes immediately. Works beautifully! We have 7 acres and 6 of them are forest but we have trees all over the 1 acre where we live. We have an abundance of leaves and they are the basis for all of our soil that we grow in. Once you mow over the leaves several times, wet it and you will be surprised at the "soil" you seem to have almost instantly.
I used my leaves as a top mulch on my plant containers to help them this winter. I also put them in big garbage bags, but didn't know about poking holes in them, so will be sure to do that. Thanks for that tip!
I make leaf mold also. I stop making a container to hold the leaves because it is hard to rotate the leaves at the bottom. Instead I just make a big pile and put two fencing or chicken wire pieces on top to prevent wind blowing leaves away or raccoons from digging into looking for by food scraps. The worms help break it down faster and we get worm castings as an additional benefit.
Yes this video convinced me not to waite 2 or three years for bonafide rotted leaf mold. I'm going to use my starter pulverized leaves as a light weight soil media fir potted fruit trees
Evergreen needles don't result in acidic soil. They are acidic themselves however by the time they decompose the acidity is neutralized. Great video on leaf mold.
@@saemushailstorm3135 Everyone claims they don't just like used coffee grounds, and it's total horse shit. They definitely do just not an extreme amount. I dump a bag of starbucks grounds on my aunt's hydrangea every year and it gives it lots of color.
I use my own leaves and gather more from neighbours just to have enough browns to balance the 100+ jack-o'-lanterns I go around town collecting for my compost the first few days of November each year.
Yes, huge effort over four days. By the time I carry them to my car, carry them to my compost, chop them with an axe, and layer with leaves, I am well and truly exhausted. Wish I could post a picture here :-)
In the Autumn I like to pile mowed leaves about 1 foot thick on top of the garden a let them break down over the winter. It insulates the garden so the soil doesn't get frozen. An added bonus is that it feeds the worms and keeps the fungi active during the winter. In the spring I turn the soil over -- and it's time to get the garden going.
Thank you so, so much. We are drowning in dry leaves I piled up to a couple mounds to mould, but there almost too much. Now I know I can turn and shredd them to tidy up the back line of our garden where our blackberries grow.
I put a "leaves wanted" sign in my yard....I live on a busy street....and the neighborhood drops off bagged leaves.. I get hundreds of bags.....then friends and I haul them to the community garden. There we use them to lay on pathways, till in to the garden soil, or build a huge compost pile.
Back in the '90s, I worked for a company that had several vans. In the autumn, I would borrow a van for a weekend then drive around town picking up leaves and grass clippings from curbs in front of people's homes. I had a HUGE wire enclosure about 10 feet across where I dumped everything in.
Love that!! More need to do this. Save community leaves instead of handing it over to the city to sell back to you in a much more resource exhausting way.
I use a leaf vac or my bagging mower to give the leaves a quick chop. Then I let them sit in a bin over Winter. As Spring thaws the ground I fold them into the soil, as is (no composting), deep as I can with a broad fork. Absolutely marvelous for carrots and tomatoes.
I also use bags and bags of leaves in my raspberry patch. I simply empty the bags around the raspberry canes after I have pruned out the dead canes. My raspberry patch has thrived for over 25 years using this wonderful soil enrichment. Leaves 1-2 feet deep will totally disappear into the soil in a year.
Great content. I love the plastic bag idea for leaf mold. I've been composting kitchen scraps and yard clippings for years using shredded bills and newspaper for browns during the spring, summer, and winter, and leaves during fall. It works, but since the paper has zero nutrients I prefer leaves. Thing is, they're a feast/ famine thing, So this morning, I've stashed away several bags full as you suggested. I doubt I'll wait 2-3 years for leaf mold proper, but will incorporate the partially molded leaves into the compost bin as I need browns: maybe 1part leaves, 1 part shredded paper, and 1 part clippings to 1 part clippings or scraps.
That sounds like a good approach. I rarely leave leaf mould for the full two to three years - usually one year is enough for it to be good to spread over beds.
I shredded leaves and the majority of it was crumbly within 10 months. I sieved it to produce fine material. Wonderful stuff. That which was left was mostly 'done' was used as a mulch to overwinter.
Turn your leaf pile every couple of weeks .... not months. Turning every couple of weeks will result in a faster leaf compost oh and keep moist or wet also cover it up with a tarp or something to help it retain moister and break down. That’s it. This is what works for me.
Three times every fall, we rake massive amounts of leaves into our chicken run. It buffers the ground for their feet when temps get low, and breaks down all winter with chicken poo, feed, yard waste; attracts bugs for the hens; is excellent dressing for Spring plantings.
I rake my leaves, and I have lots, into my concrete driveway and mow them with my mulching mower. This decreases the volume from 3 ft of leaves to about 3 inches! I sweep them into bags and have a fantastic soil amendment and mulch.
I use the lawnmower technique and turn the leaves right into my fall garden soil. The worms take over and by spring my garden is growing beautifully. A little lime helps to sweeten the soil but is not needed in any great quantity. Maybe 4 cups for 100 square feet.
@@Herhighness211 I dunno about that guy, but 2 falls ago I filled a 100gal smart pot with leaves, covered it with cardboard...and now it is perfect leaf mold with some nice castings in it. I checked it several times up till now and it had TONS of worms in there at one point. Not so many now, but it is fluffy and gorgeous stuff...also had mycelium spread all through it. Any gardener would be stupid not to do this every year ..you will never buy compost or mycorrhizal inoculant again.
Nice video thanks. Didn't know about walnut leaves being undesirable! I've been composting leaves for the last three years and keep the leaves in seperate containers to the regular compost, made of wire & posts. First I mow the leaves to reduce them to much smaller pieces. After adding to container, moisten them with a mixture of water & urine. Turn the heap 6 monthly, to mix. When they are dark & broken down, I put them through a rotary sieve, and get a perfect mulch or soil conditioner. Use for potting as they are, or mix with regular compost & some sharp grit. I find the process takes two years. At first I used plastic bin bags, but found the mix went slimy. But when I changed to the wire containers, the leaf mould was perfect.
Leaves take so long to break down because they are high in carbon and need nitrogen to balance. If you add urine to the leaves, they will decompose much more quickly. I learned this trick from the book The Resilient Gardener. So instead of wetting your leaf pile with a hose, get someone to pee on it. Sorry if this is gross, but it really works! :)
Urine does work by adding nitrogen, which can speed traditional composting. However, leaf mold making is generally a slow process as it happens at much cooler temperatures with fungi breaking down the leaves slowly. But I guess there's no harm in applying the urine treatment!
I have found a very easy method for finely shredding leaves for leaf mold or compost. Using my lawnmower I first mulch the leaves for two full passes which turns them into coin size pieces. Then I attach the rear bagger for the third pass which mulches the pieces one more time as they are sucked up into the bag. The result is a finely ground product with pieces about the size of my fingernail. It should decompose much quicker than the large chunks obtained by only mulching and bagging all in one pass as I did in the past.
I am a grower and seedsman based in Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada. We call our maple leaves “black gold” because once composted they add so many nutrients to the soil. But we also rely on maple leaves for winter mulch, piling them into the upper layer of raised beds, after planting garlic and other crops that go dormant in the cold. That helps insulate them from ice, snow and sub-zero temperatures and ensures an early spring sprouting and exuberant growth. Maple leaves are a treasure, not to be thrown away. Rich organic soil is a key to good plant growth. You feed the garden, then it feeds you.
Literarly top quality content cant belive im watching it for free. I learned so much from you although it took mi bit time to discover this channel amongst others
I live in zone 9b and have 2 giant mulberry (non-fruiting) trees with a bizllion leaves. This year we are saving all the leaves to mulch garden in the summer. Usually use straw but at $10 a bale and unable to get a straight answer as to what has been sprayed on or not, will use saved leaves.
They are great at feeding the soil. If you are not bothered about leaving leaves on garden beds, then you can of course just leave them where they are as they will eventually rot down into the soil where they are. But usually it's worth raking them up where they will suppress other growth (e.g. on lawns) or go to waste (e.g. on paths).
I use the Toro to reduce the leaves from three massive Maple trees. I pile all the shredded leaves behind my garage in a long thin pile that is about three feet tall. Winter rain and snow reduces the pile a lot and in the spring it is a wet pile of partially decomposed leaves. All summer I keep adding it around the plants in my flower gardens and by late August I am out of leaves. The soil is so rich. That blower is wonderful but sucked millions of leaves through a four inch tube does take lots of time over several days.
Where I live collecting leaves on the mountainside is a cottage industry. They are sold to nurseries who do the shredding and the mulching. The town nearby is well known for its nurseries and the local families sell plants and produce every weekend. I have a very small lot with limited sun so I have converted my rooftop, flat of course, into an open garden and also a greenhouse. I live in the tropics so I can grow many crops year round. Great video, clear send dimple. 😊
@Revolvin Goatt Vegs by & large grow best in bacterially dominated v fungally dominated soil. I simply add old chicken yard material to rows which need a more bacterially dominated base. It's easier to direct sow into & then cover with coarser leaf mould post seedling stage for weed supression. Do you have a good link or list to those vegs which prefer bacteria? I don't recall ever seeing one.
I compost leaves from my wooded area with fresh cut grass from my yard area. Layered and watered and then cover with a tarp to prevent hasty evaporation in Texas heat. I check it weekly, turning it, adding more grass and water to keep it hot. I may combine two piles after they break down to half the size pile and add more grass and water. My woods have years of fallen leaves, so they are in different levels of decomposition which makes for quicker results! Wonderful compost!
I spread alfalfa pellets over a new potential flower bed area because they contain nitrogen and I didn’t have grass clippings. Then I spread leaves over the alfalfa pellets. Then I put wood chips on top of the leaves. Finally I spread more alfalfa on top of the wood chips. It rained heavily the next day so I didn’t have to water anything. Waiting to see the results.
Last year, watching you video, I learned how to compost leaves. I will do that again. Finally, my clay soil will be improved. As you suggested, I will put some leaves on top of the raised beds. Look forward to next Spring! Thank you for your advice and wonderful videos!
Do you think punctured black bags of wet leaves form leaf mold quicker in the sun or the shade? I understand it's a different process compared to compost
I've never really considered that Linda. They always just get tucked away, out of sight - so in the shade usually. But they could break down a bit quicker in the sun due to the extra warmth.
I have a 6 x 10 ft moble leaf mould bin I made of wire fencing & T posts. I cover it with 6 ft wide black landscape fabric on top. Every 2 years I move it down 5 ft or so & place the newly uncovered area into garden production after raking off those leaves which mostly did not decompose. The soil underneath is just about perfect. I leave the T posts & wire in place for trellising. Construct new "ends" to the bin down the line. Lather, rinse, repeat.
@@GrowVeg It really is the laziest way of prepping soil if you are not in a big hurry. I got fancy & started digging an 18 in path down the center of the 6 ft cage before constructing new "ends" & filling the ditch path with woodchips before dumping on the shredded leaves. It seems to speed leaf decomposition likely due to fungi in the woodchips. When I rake off a section, I get two apprx 30 in rows with an 18 in path in between with the trellising in place.
@@GrowVeg You now have me rethinking a part of this. I cover the 6 ft bin/cage with landscape fabric doubled over. It may be letting too much water/snow melt through. I may cut a piece of solid black ag tarp to fit & see if that doesn't seed up decomposirion. The worse that could happen is not much difference, but the initial incrased heat must help some.
It's the minerals in the leaves that are useful as a fertilizer. Composting and leaf molding makes those minerals available to ones crops. So leaves could be powdered then steep like tea then just like compost tea be feed to ones crops or garden
I planted peppers in a container last year. When they were finished I put the leaves over the soil in the container, watered it, then put a plastic bag over the container for winter. When I uncovered it in spring it was beautiful. All the leaves were gone and the soil was amazing. I wanted to do it again this year but my plants had a lot of bugs so I just tossed them.
I have mainly cut grass and food scraps in my composter through the year so i use the leafs to balance the carbon:nitrogen ratio in my compost heap. Run them over with mower and mix them in well. Usually only takes until the next spring the and pile will be ready to go out onto the garden. Check the pile yesterday which is end of october and its still doing 50 degrees c.
We haven’t purchased anything to mulch leaves, but all leaves are blown into our woods and down a landscaped hill. I don’t like bagged mulch because it comes complete with slugs. Unfortunately I have to mulch the dog run. But this fall I’ve been watching all the monarch caterpillars bedding out for the winter in my garden. My ground cover is now a combination of leaves, coffee grounds and egg shells. Happy plants in the spring.
Your welcome my friend, the more you cut up the leaf the quicker the leafmould, here in ireland we get plenty of rain and lots of leaf so no shortish of leafmould as a result,i mix the leafmould with compost and chicken pellets in burlap sacks and get some early spuds[ great harvest] good luck and nice vid.
I mix a bit of garden soil with leaves to make it decompose faster.I also add leaves to the other materials in my compost bins.This saves me money as i cannot afford to purchase compost,manure or potting soil.❤
I got my favorite leaf trick this year...I try to sheet compost right on the garden at the end of the season. I collect all the leaves I can manage to get by using a lawn sweeper attachment to the riding mower. Then I spread the out to try fromand even cover. I've never mow mulched them but a time or two, hubby has been seen doing a mix chopping. I think they full coverage of inches if leaves especially before a rain is ideal. If it doesn't rain, and fall winds get active,,you'll have to hose them down a time or two yourself. This year, we had a lot of heavy rain and two sunny days after which was perfect for drying the leaves enough to pick up with the sweeper. Then the rains began again. By spring,,they'll be so composted on the garden, they'll seem almost gone they're so flat. But they sure improve the soil.
That's a great way of processing leaves Margaret. I think keeping the soil covered with leaves is a great way to build soil structure and fertility over time - it's nature's way of doing things anyhow.
Deciduous tree leaf drop have a reason for dropping. (1) It insulates the soil and roots against the hard winter and snow. (2) It decays and the leaf sugars and amino acids (those colors in the leaves) for a spring boost. Put some molasses into the foliage, and the worms will come scooting into the sweet pile and eat it all up.
If you shred/chop your leaves into small pieces(the smaller the better) you can add them this fall for next year. By doing it this fall, you also should not have to till/turn your soil next spring, just plant your "stuff".
Thank you for this helpful and interesting video. Pine/evergreen needles do not acidify soil, according to many UA-cam videos I've seen, which state this is a myth. I could find no evidence that the RHS says that pine needles are acidifying on the RHS site. The University of New Hampshire published an article saying that although the needles themselves are acidic, they do not acidify. Oregon State University published an article stating that pine needles acidic when alive on trees, but as soon as they fall, they start to lose their acidity, and as soon as they are brown, their acidity is gone. The RHS article,, 'Acidifying Soil,' does not mention pine needles. It is easy to search on their site. The RHS article, "Leaf Mould,' discusses pine needles, and does not say they are acidic or acidifying. I searched for articles on the RHS site about pine needles and acidifying soil, and could only find these 2 articles that addressed this important topic. I do appreciate all the other knowledge and inspiration on this video and your channel, thank you.
Thank you for your comment. This video is quite old and since then, and after much research, I have reached the same conclusion. I no longer recommend the use of pine needles for acidifying soil or as having an acidifying effect.
I use it as a winter mulch. In some of my patches the worms are so active, i can barely find any organic matter to cover the soil year round, which is my goal. On some more recent patches the leaves stay until well into summer. I wish i had a working lawnmower to chop them up. :D I'm setting up a compost pile very soon. Last year i couldn't get enough browns, now i can't get enough greens, haha. Always something.
I did mulch mine with the lawn mower and made a pile mixed in with year old chicken droppings. also filled my worm bins with them which are now gone, the compost worms went through them fast.. today my worms are eating celery stalks.. I forgot I had in the fridge and it was going bad and some lettuce.. cannot wait for Garden time (garden junkie)
I get my leaves from a bear by town in the fall in the spring I get my acre garden ready as I lay off the rows I cover them with heay leaves then I plant my plants at the end of the gardening season I plow everything under wait on the next season
I'm so very Lucky living in Beautiful Wales, I collect from own garden, and I'm allowed ( had permission) in a forest to collect some. I Love you channel. Thank you.
Well, having just found this video I'm glad I do fill 3 or 4 loads of leaves in my pickup truck to take to the farm! I didn't have time to chop my leaf pile last year yet they were very much on their way to decomposing this summer when I turned the pile, a pleasant surprise! Can't wait to try making leafmold with one of the loads in a few weeks from now. A shortage of fallen leaves, Canada does not.
2-3 years?! I've always added to my compost to keep it balanced but I have SO many leaves this year I thought I'd make leaf mold as I'd never throw away something so valuable to the soil. Guess I'll have to wait awhile & look for a place to keep lots of plastic bags!
I've covered my 40'x40' garden w/ about 8" of leaves every Fall for years, but it doesn't seem to be improving the soil at all. I just started using wood chips as a mulch last year after planting and hope this will be enough of an increase in organic matter.
Thanks for drawing our attention to this. The pine needles are very slow to break down and aren't easily washed away, so they would still be a great mulch around established trees and shrubs.
I have a drum style leaf mulcher which cuts about a year off the breakdown time. I mulch the maple, birch and non-oak leaves into plastic bags and make holes like they did in the video.
2-3 years to decompose? I think I'd rather add them directly to my garden underneath my wood chip layer. I did that a month and a half ago and I can already see them decomposing.
I mix my leaves with sticks and mud, then I take them to work, where I use the cardboard bailor and then I bring them home to sit in the sun for five years, then I add them to the others that are slowly making large above ground swimming pool, I'm sure it will be a nice one thanks to your help
I live in the mountains & ive noticed Pine needles don’t decompose...at least not so’s you’d notice. What I did one year was fill the pot hole in the road with pine needles. The cars driving on them broke them down into very fine bits & I re-add more as needed to the holes. As far as I was concerned it was a win-win on the private road...no one could afford to chip in to pave it over so I just filled in the holes!
I have a pile out back that has been in the making for 6 years. I have done nothing to it. But, I have started to notice it's getting close to the top.
Hi, I have a few huge pecan tree limbs that recently fell that still have a ton of live green leaves. Can those be used immediately directly as landscaping mulch under trees and/or used as a brown when they brown in the compost? Or will they still be considered adding a "green" even when they turn brown? Will they be harmful as mulch since they are still so green? I've had a hard time finding this information on the web. Thank you
If you shred them then they'd be fine as a mulch, left on the surface around trees and shrubs. They will still be quite 'green' as they are fresh, but will offer the same protection as any other mulch and will rot down in time.
I build layers of leaves, food waste, and compost like a saucer around trees; they provide nutrients the trees need. It is also a good way of organic recycling
Hello, I have an orange tree that is dropping it's leaves in my garden bed. Is it ok to leave them there, or should I throw them away? A friend told me citrus leaves weren't good for the worms in the compost bin. Thanks for your help.
I think the citrus leaves would be fine wherever they are. You could level them where they fall as a sort of mulch, or rake them up and add them to the compost bin. Either should be fine.
Suggestion: Make your leaf mold cages with plastic safety/snow fence instead of chicken wire and secure it to the stakes with zip ties instead of U-nails. Plastic fencing is easy to work with and you can cut the zip ties to open up and access the best leaf mold which, inconveniently, will be at the bottom of the pile ;-)
My trees shed leaves almost year round so I've started bagging them with my lawnmower and put them in a compost heap and I've buried a few bags worth about a foot into our yard because it's a sandy clay soil and it need much improvement
QUESTION: I just had a maple tree removed and collected all of the leaves. I want to make leaf mold but the leaves are still green. Should I lay them out to dry first or can I start the process now?
I would just add them to your compost heap. Because they are still green, they will be relatively higher in nutrients than brown/shed leaves, so it makes sense to use them for traditional composting.
I use discarded untreated wooden pallets to build composting bins. They are easy to find at construction sites and contractors are glad to get rid of them. I wire them together at the corners and leave the front open for easy access. There is plenty of space between the wooden boards for air and water penetration.
Hi I just wanted to know if I mix with whole-leaves and green grass clippings/kitchen waste . How long do I have to wait for decomposed.please reply soon dear and thanks in advance
Hi Nisha. That would give you a traditional composting setup - a mix of browns and greens. The time to make compost varies considerably according to ingredients, weather and location. But on average compost takes around six to 10 months to make.
I almost put black walnuts in my compost pile but someone warned me not to because of a poisonous gas they put off. Is there anything else we should look out for? Thanks veg guy!!
Most leaves are fine, especially if you get a good mix of them. Pine needles can take longer to decompose, however, so are sometimes worth composting down on their own for this reason.
![How to Make Compost Faster (and Know When It's Ready!) [Quick Start to Composting Part 3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/r2GDY31bUZ4/mqdefault.jpg)
Mixing grass clippings into composting leaves will help them compost faster and make it a better fertiliser.
Regular composting(C:N) is broken down through bacterial processes. Leaf mold is broken down through fungal processes. Both composting methods are advantageous to one another, by adding both bacterial and fungal organisms to the soil.
It definitely works! I used decomposed leaves in my vegetable garden this year and the yield was unbelievable! Specially my greens!!!
LuRo Greens really love leaf mold!
I am starting a new garden bed so in the fall I mixed leaves, grass clippings together and put coffee grounds and kitchen scraps on it all winter long. I turn it one to two times as week as weather permits, it has been a mild winter.
We dump tons of leaves in the garden along with used straw from the chicken coops in the fall and let the chickens dig around in it all winter. By spring it's ready to plant in. Chickens are amazing helpers.
I raked up a bunch of leaves and made a huge pile at the bottom of my three year old's backyard slide. She slides into them, demands I raked them up again, and this goes on and on. The result at the bottom is leaf confetti so fine I have trouble getting it out of the grass haha. All this to say chickens and children are both amazing helpers 😂
Adding fallen leaves helps keep the compost bin warmer during the winter and the worms keep active
We mow over our leaves, rake them up again, and mow over them again. We do this about 3 - 4 times until they are well ground up and we use the soil it makes immediately. Works beautifully! We have 7 acres and 6 of them are forest but we have trees all over the 1 acre where we live. We have an abundance of leaves and they are the basis for all of our soil that we grow in. Once you mow over the leaves several times, wet it and you will be surprised at the "soil" you seem to have almost instantly.
Very good advice, thanks for sharing. Yes, chopping leaves up like that will speed up their decomposition very, very quickly.
Do you add nitrogen? Fresh high carbon material will draw nitrogen out of your soil as it decomposes.
If this works it’ll save me a lot of money
@@MarkThompson184it only takes from the top quarter inch if you use it as mulch and don't work it into the soil.
I used my leaves as a top mulch on my plant containers to help them this winter. I also put them in big garbage bags, but didn't know about poking holes in them, so will be sure to do that. Thanks for that tip!
Love this video! Thnk u! I have lots of leaves but no room for actual compost pile/spot. Letting "nothing go to waist in the garden" is my goal😊
I make leaf mold also. I stop making a container to hold the leaves because it is hard to rotate the leaves at the bottom. Instead I just make a big pile and put two fencing or chicken wire pieces on top to prevent wind blowing leaves away or raccoons from digging into looking for by food scraps. The worms help break it down faster and we get worm castings as an additional benefit.
Yes this video convinced me not to waite 2 or three years for bonafide rotted leaf mold. I'm going to use my starter pulverized leaves as a light weight soil media fir potted fruit trees
Evergreen needles don't result in acidic soil. They are acidic themselves however by the time they decompose the acidity is neutralized.
Great video on leaf mold.
wrong - toss on lime
You are correct. The needles are no longer acidic after turning brown and decomposing.
@@saemushailstorm3135 Everyone claims they don't just like used coffee grounds, and it's total horse shit. They definitely do just not an extreme amount. I dump a bag of starbucks grounds on my aunt's hydrangea every year and it gives it lots of color.
I use my own leaves and gather more from neighbours just to have enough browns to balance the 100+ jack-o'-lanterns I go around town collecting for my compost the first few days of November each year.
Wow - 100+ pumpkins! That must take a lot of effort to collect but I would imagine makes a fantastic compost.
Yes, huge effort over four days. By the time I carry them to my car, carry them to my compost, chop them with an axe, and layer with leaves, I am well and truly exhausted. Wish I could post a picture here :-)
I love music
:-)
Wow, thats a great idea!!
I use an outdoor upright vacuum made to mulch leaves into a handy bag on board. It’s nice!
I layer my fallen oak leaves with my organic kitchen scraps . Keep it turned and watered. Perfect compost.
In the Autumn I like to pile mowed leaves about 1 foot thick on top of the garden a let them break down over the winter. It insulates the garden so the soil doesn't get frozen. An added bonus is that it feeds the worms and keeps the fungi active during the winter. In the spring I turn the soil over -- and it's time to get the garden going.
Yes, that's a great way of using leaves, and brilliant for soil fauna.
Love leaves mixed in with my compost. I don't use any animal products and the garden thrives.
Veganic gardening for the win!
You are an animal product
Thank you so, so much. We are drowning in dry leaves I piled up to a couple mounds to mould, but there almost too much. Now I know I can turn and shredd them to tidy up the back line of our garden where our blackberries grow.
I put a "leaves wanted" sign in my yard....I live on a busy street....and the neighborhood drops off bagged leaves.. I get hundreds of bags.....then friends and I haul them to the community garden. There we use them to lay on pathways, till in to the garden soil, or build a huge compost pile.
Back in the '90s, I worked for a company that had several vans. In the autumn, I would borrow a van for a weekend then drive around town picking up leaves and grass clippings from curbs in front of people's homes. I had a HUGE wire enclosure about 10 feet across where I dumped everything in.
Great for everyone
Love that!! More need to do this. Save community leaves instead of handing it over to the city to sell back to you in a much more resource exhausting way.
You should ensure no “spraying” where leaves grew...
Don't forget wood chips are great for spreading to subdue weeds and keep in moisture. They're also great added to the heap.
I use a leaf vac or my bagging mower to give the leaves a quick chop. Then I let them sit in a bin over Winter. As Spring thaws the ground I fold them into the soil, as is (no composting), deep as I can with a broad fork. Absolutely marvelous for carrots and tomatoes.
Great idea - thanks for sharing!
I also use bags and bags of leaves in my raspberry patch. I simply empty the bags around the raspberry canes after I have pruned out the dead canes. My raspberry patch has thrived for over 25 years using this wonderful soil enrichment. Leaves 1-2 feet deep will totally disappear into the soil in a year.
Brilliant idea, thanks for sharing.
Do you rot them down first or do you use freshly fallen leaves for your raspberry patch?
I’ve done both, some years fresh & well chopped in the fall. Some times from a pile that has had time to break down
@@InnerExploration just empty the bags of freshly fallen leaves into the raspberry patch
Great content. I love the plastic bag idea for leaf mold. I've been composting kitchen scraps and yard clippings for years using shredded bills and newspaper for browns during the spring, summer, and winter, and leaves during fall. It works, but since the paper has zero nutrients I prefer leaves. Thing is, they're a feast/ famine thing, So this morning, I've stashed away several bags full as you suggested. I doubt I'll wait 2-3 years for leaf mold proper, but will incorporate the partially molded leaves into the compost bin as I need browns: maybe 1part leaves, 1 part shredded paper, and 1 part clippings to 1 part clippings or scraps.
That sounds like a good approach. I rarely leave leaf mould for the full two to three years - usually one year is enough for it to be good to spread over beds.
I didn't realize antifa thugs took an interest in hard work, I thought they just destroy things and terrorize people.
I shredded leaves and the majority of it was crumbly within 10 months. I sieved it to produce fine material. Wonderful stuff. That which was left was mostly 'done' was used as a mulch to overwinter.
Turn your leaf pile every couple of weeks .... not months. Turning every couple of weeks will result in a faster leaf compost oh and keep moist or wet also cover it up with a tarp or something to help it retain moister and break down. That’s it. This is what works for me.
Me too!
Wow your soil looks so dark and rich! Amazing!
Three times every fall, we rake massive amounts of leaves into our chicken run. It buffers the ground for their feet when temps get low, and breaks down all winter with chicken poo, feed, yard waste; attracts bugs for the hens; is excellent dressing for Spring plantings.
I've been doing the same thing. Works really well
I rake my leaves, and I have lots, into my concrete driveway and mow them with my mulching mower. This decreases the volume from 3 ft of leaves to about 3 inches! I sweep them into bags and have a fantastic soil amendment and mulch.
Excellent idea, thanks for sharing!
thanks
this is a great idea for me
This is much better than adding whole leaves, I’m my experience.
I use the lawnmower technique and turn the leaves right into my fall garden soil. The worms take over and by spring my garden is growing beautifully. A little lime helps to sweeten the soil but is not needed in any great quantity. Maybe 4 cups for 100 square feet.
2 years!!! I’m trying to plant tomorrow son! 😂
American
It’s been 2yrs! How’s it going?
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow" a quote from Audrey Hepburn
Hey mate, your leaf mold is ready!
@@Herhighness211 I dunno about that guy, but 2 falls ago I filled a 100gal smart pot with leaves, covered it with cardboard...and now it is perfect leaf mold with some nice castings in it.
I checked it several times up till now and it had TONS of worms in there at one point. Not so many now, but it is fluffy and gorgeous stuff...also had mycelium spread all through it.
Any gardener would be stupid not to do this every year ..you will never buy compost or mycorrhizal inoculant again.
Nice video thanks. Didn't know about walnut leaves being undesirable!
I've been composting leaves for the last three years and keep the leaves in seperate containers to the regular compost, made of wire & posts.
First I mow the leaves to reduce them to much smaller pieces.
After adding to container, moisten them with a mixture of water & urine.
Turn the heap 6 monthly, to mix.
When they are dark & broken down, I put them through a rotary sieve, and get a perfect mulch or soil conditioner.
Use for potting as they are, or mix with regular compost & some sharp grit.
I find the process takes two years.
At first I used plastic bin bags, but found the mix went slimy. But when I changed to the wire containers, the leaf mould was perfect.
Thanks for the insider tips there Linda - this will be very helpful :-)
Leaves take so long to break down because they are high in carbon and need nitrogen to balance. If you add urine to the leaves, they will decompose much more quickly. I learned this trick from the book The Resilient Gardener. So instead of wetting your leaf pile with a hose, get someone to pee on it. Sorry if this is gross, but it really works! :)
Urine does work by adding nitrogen, which can speed traditional composting. However, leaf mold making is generally a slow process as it happens at much cooler temperatures with fungi breaking down the leaves slowly. But I guess there's no harm in applying the urine treatment!
GrowVeg Would the salt in the urine be likely to cause problems?
Good! Must try it. Saves me taking me shoes off to runs upstairs as well!!
Or just add coffee grounds
ThyBookie hmmm id love too but doesnt that attract vermin? Also cant seem to get any coffee shop to give me grounds. 😑
I have found a very easy method for finely shredding leaves for leaf mold or compost. Using my lawnmower I first mulch the leaves for two full passes which turns them into coin size pieces. Then I attach the rear bagger for the third pass which mulches the pieces one more time as they are sucked up into the bag. The result is a finely ground product with pieces about the size of my fingernail. It should decompose much quicker than the large chunks obtained by only mulching and bagging all in one pass as I did in the past.
What a great method! Thanks for sharing this.
Great demo, thanks! I put them into my compost piles and turn often. 🍁🍁🍁
Great video as always and perfect timing as the massive maple trees in and around my garden have just covered everything. Thanks
I am a grower and seedsman based in Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada. We call our maple leaves “black gold” because once composted they add so many nutrients to the soil. But we also rely on maple leaves for winter mulch, piling them into the upper layer of raised beds, after planting garlic and other crops that go dormant in the cold. That helps insulate them from ice, snow and sub-zero temperatures and ensures an early spring sprouting and exuberant growth. Maple leaves are a treasure, not to be thrown away. Rich organic soil is a key to good plant growth. You feed the garden, then it feeds you.
So true Dan, that's a great way of looking at it.
You feed the soil...then the garden feeds you.
Literarly top quality content cant belive im watching it for free. I learned so much from you although it took mi bit time to discover this channel amongst others
I live in zone 9b and have 2 giant mulberry (non-fruiting) trees with a bizllion leaves. This year we are saving all the leaves to mulch garden in the summer. Usually use straw but at $10 a bale and unable to get a straight answer as to what has been sprayed on or not, will use saved leaves.
Great vid. Leaves are nature's own compost and nature has done well so far with them. ;) They're perfect for "feeding" soil.
They are great at feeding the soil. If you are not bothered about leaving leaves on garden beds, then you can of course just leave them where they are as they will eventually rot down into the soil where they are. But usually it's worth raking them up where they will suppress other growth (e.g. on lawns) or go to waste (e.g. on paths).
More nutrians in leaves than anything else you can put in garden, must mix with other ingredients for faster decomposition though.
I have leaf toro leaf crusher which reduces leaf volume by 75%. I directly mix this crushed leaf some composted manure and mix in garden soil.
I use the Toro to reduce the leaves from three massive Maple trees. I pile all the shredded leaves behind my garage in a long thin pile that is about three feet tall. Winter rain and snow reduces the pile a lot and in the spring it is a wet pile of partially decomposed leaves. All summer I keep adding it around the plants in my flower gardens and by late August I am out of leaves. The soil is so rich. That blower is wonderful but sucked millions of leaves through a four inch tube does take lots of time over several days.
Where I live collecting leaves on the mountainside is a cottage industry. They are sold to nurseries who do the shredding and the mulching. The town nearby is well known for its nurseries and the local families sell plants and produce every weekend. I have a very small lot with limited sun so I have converted my rooftop, flat of course, into an open garden and also a greenhouse. I live in the tropics so I can grow many crops year round. Great video, clear send dimple. 😊
How fantastic to be able to grow crops year round . Wonderful! :-)
Add a few shovels of garden soil & compost and it will decompose much faster.
@Revolvin Goatt Vegs by & large grow best in bacterially dominated v fungally dominated soil. I simply add old chicken yard material to rows which need a more bacterially dominated base. It's easier to direct sow into & then cover with coarser leaf mould post seedling stage for weed supression.
Do you have a good link or list to those vegs which prefer bacteria? I don't recall ever seeing one.
I compost leaves from my wooded area with fresh cut grass from my yard area. Layered and watered and then cover with a tarp to prevent hasty evaporation in Texas heat. I check it weekly, turning it, adding more grass and water to keep it hot. I may combine two piles after they break down to half the size pile and add more grass and water.
My woods have years of fallen leaves, so they are in different levels of decomposition which makes for quicker results! Wonderful compost!
I bet that compost is absolutely lovely stuff!
I spread alfalfa pellets over a new potential flower bed area because they contain nitrogen and I didn’t have grass clippings.
Then I spread leaves over the alfalfa pellets. Then I put wood chips on top of the leaves. Finally I spread more alfalfa on top of the wood chips. It rained heavily the next day so I didn’t have to water anything. Waiting to see the results.
just watched a guy in the states use a strimmer with leaves in a wheelie bin to chop them up and add to compost
I've seen this too - genius idea isn't it!
I sched my leaves first and put them in my flower beds as a mulch in the fall. They usually last until the next fall and i start all over again.
Last year, watching you video, I learned how to compost leaves. I will do that again. Finally, my clay soil will be improved. As you suggested, I will put some leaves on top of the raised beds. Look forward to next Spring! Thank you for your advice and wonderful videos!
You've very welcome Edward, thanks for watching.
Do you think punctured black bags of wet leaves form leaf mold quicker in the sun or the shade?
I understand it's a different process compared to compost
I've never really considered that Linda. They always just get tucked away, out of sight - so in the shade usually. But they could break down a bit quicker in the sun due to the extra warmth.
I have a 6 x 10 ft moble leaf mould bin I made of wire fencing & T posts. I cover it with 6 ft wide black landscape fabric on top. Every 2 years I move it down 5 ft or so & place the newly uncovered area into garden production after raking off those leaves which mostly did not decompose. The soil underneath is just about perfect. I leave the T posts & wire in place for trellising. Construct new "ends" to the bin down the line. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I love this method - great idea!
@@GrowVeg It really is the laziest way of prepping soil if you are not in a big hurry. I got fancy & started digging an 18 in path down the center of the 6 ft cage before constructing new "ends" & filling the ditch path with woodchips before dumping on the shredded leaves. It seems to speed leaf decomposition likely due to fungi in the woodchips. When I rake off a section, I get two apprx 30 in rows with an 18 in path in between with the trellising in place.
@@GrowVeg You now have me rethinking a part of this. I cover the 6 ft bin/cage with landscape fabric doubled over. It may be letting too much water/snow melt through. I may cut a piece of solid black ag tarp to fit & see if that doesn't seed up decomposirion. The worse that could happen is not much difference, but the initial incrased heat must help some.
I just mow them and spread on top of my garden beds. Works wonderfully
Nice and easy and no waiting - like it!
@@GrowVeg Yes, it also adds structure to the soil, fluffs it up a bit (read oxygen), great for the roots I think
It's the minerals in the leaves that are useful as a fertilizer. Composting and leaf molding makes those minerals available to ones crops. So leaves could be powdered then steep like tea then just like compost tea be feed to ones crops or garden
I planted peppers in a container last year. When they were finished I put the leaves over the soil in the container, watered it, then put a plastic bag over the container for winter. When I uncovered it in spring it was beautiful. All the leaves were gone and the soil was amazing. I wanted to do it again this year but my plants had a lot of bugs so I just tossed them.
Hmm, seems like the lack of oxygen and light would have killed and decomposed the insects as well!
@@Another_Lady I hadn't thought of that. I figured eggs would lay dormant until the conditions were better. You might be right though!
I have mainly cut grass and food scraps in my composter through the year so i use the leafs to balance the carbon:nitrogen ratio in my compost heap. Run them over with mower and mix them in well. Usually only takes until the next spring the and pile will be ready to go out onto the garden. Check the pile yesterday which is end of october and its still doing 50 degrees c.
Nice and toasty!
What a great idea to mow to chop and collect the leaves! Thanks for that great idea. Best wishes to you from sunny Cyprus.
We haven’t purchased anything to mulch leaves, but all leaves are blown into our woods and down a landscaped hill. I don’t like bagged mulch because it comes complete with slugs. Unfortunately I have to mulch the dog run. But this fall I’ve been watching all the monarch caterpillars bedding out for the winter in my garden. My ground cover is now a combination of leaves, coffee grounds and egg shells. Happy plants in the spring.
Even better is to cover the compost bunker filled with leaves with 20-30cm of soil. Keeps inside compressed and moist!
Your welcome my friend, the more you cut up the leaf the quicker the leafmould, here in ireland we get plenty of rain and lots of leaf so no shortish of leafmould as a result,i mix the leafmould with compost and chicken pellets in burlap sacks and get some early spuds[ great harvest] good luck and nice vid.
I mix a bit of garden soil with leaves to make it decompose faster.I also add leaves to the other materials in my compost bins.This saves me money as i cannot afford to purchase compost,manure or potting soil.❤
I found this very useful! I'm going to give this a go this year 👍🏻
I got my favorite leaf trick this year...I try to sheet compost right on the garden at the end of the season. I collect all the leaves I can manage to get by using a lawn sweeper attachment to the riding mower. Then I spread the out to try fromand even cover. I've never mow mulched them but a time or two, hubby has been seen doing a mix chopping. I think they full coverage of inches if leaves especially before a rain is ideal. If it doesn't rain, and fall winds get active,,you'll have to hose them down a time or two yourself. This year, we had a lot of heavy rain and two sunny days after which was perfect for drying the leaves enough to pick up with the sweeper. Then the rains began again. By spring,,they'll be so composted on the garden, they'll seem almost gone they're so flat. But they sure improve the soil.
That's a great way of processing leaves Margaret. I think keeping the soil covered with leaves is a great way to build soil structure and fertility over time - it's nature's way of doing things anyhow.
wow man, that punched plastic bag composting is a great idea, how come i havent thought about it. :-) thank you
I would worry about those bags being an attractive nuisance for rodents.
Pay attention, some trash bags are made with a pesticide ingredient to kill flies.
Not the best way if you want an organic gardening...
Deciduous tree leaf drop have a reason for dropping. (1) It insulates the soil and roots against the hard winter and snow. (2) It decays and the leaf sugars and amino acids (those colors in the leaves) for a spring boost. Put some molasses into the foliage, and the worms will come scooting into the sweet pile and eat it all up.
Be wary of putting droppings of black walnut tree leaves and walnuts they are very acidic.
Great video as usual! Nice point about the break down time of leaves this just saved me from mixing into raised beds for next year.
If you shred/chop your leaves into small pieces(the smaller the better) you can add them this fall for next year. By doing it this fall, you also should not have to till/turn your soil next spring, just plant your "stuff".
Chris Dahl thanks for the tip. I'm tempted to throw a layer of grass clippings on as well, but fear it may slow down the process into a soppy mess.
Thank you for this helpful and interesting video. Pine/evergreen needles do not acidify soil, according to many UA-cam videos I've seen, which state this is a myth. I could find no evidence that the RHS says that pine needles are acidifying on the RHS site. The University of New Hampshire published an article saying that although the needles themselves are acidic, they do not acidify. Oregon State University published an article stating that pine needles acidic when alive on trees, but as soon as they fall, they start to lose their acidity, and as soon as they are brown, their acidity is gone. The RHS article,, 'Acidifying Soil,' does not mention pine needles. It is easy to search on their site. The RHS article, "Leaf Mould,' discusses pine needles, and does not say they are acidic or acidifying. I searched for articles on the RHS site about pine needles and acidifying soil, and could only find these 2 articles that addressed this important topic. I do appreciate all the other knowledge and inspiration on this video and your channel, thank you.
Thank you for your comment. This video is quite old and since then, and after much research, I have reached the same conclusion. I no longer recommend the use of pine needles for acidifying soil or as having an acidifying effect.
@@GrowVeg OK thank you so much.
I use it as a winter mulch. In some of my patches the worms are so active, i can barely find any organic matter to cover the soil year round, which is my goal. On some more recent patches the leaves stay until well into summer. I wish i had a working lawnmower to chop them up. :D I'm setting up a compost pile very soon. Last year i couldn't get enough browns, now i can't get enough greens, haha. Always something.
Here in Nova Scotia, Canada, I use my rear bagger mower to shred the leaves and layer them with lovely rotted seaweed. Garden gold!
How fantastic to have seaweed to hand - that really is great stuff!
I'am 78 years old, I don't have two years.
Pop collected leaves around mature plants James. They'll break down eventually and help feed soil fauna all the same.
Do it anyway James, you could still be around...
I’m 80 I bury them in the garden the worms do the rest
If you believe you won’t be around, you won’t. I am your age & hope to be around much longer.
In that case, Maybe add yourself to the mix?
I have just been given an allotment and I am collecting leaves like crazy as we have loads here!
I did mulch mine with the lawn mower and made a pile mixed in with year old chicken droppings. also filled my worm bins with them which are now gone, the compost worms went through them fast.. today my worms are eating celery stalks.. I forgot I had in the fridge and it was going bad and some lettuce.. cannot wait for Garden time (garden junkie)
The chicken droppings will certainly have helped to speed things along.
I get my leaves from a bear by town in the fall in the spring I get my acre garden ready as I lay off the rows I cover them with heay leaves then I plant my plants at the end of the gardening season I plow everything under wait on the next season
All the leaves I collect goes to make bedding for the worm bins :-) Great video. Cheers.
I use it as a fertilizer
I'm so very Lucky living in Beautiful Wales, I collect from own garden, and I'm allowed ( had permission) in a forest to collect some.
I Love you channel. Thank you.
Thanks for watching Debbie.
Well, having just found this video I'm glad I do fill 3 or 4 loads of leaves in my pickup truck to take to the farm!
I didn't have time to chop my leaf pile last year yet they were very much on their way to decomposing this summer when I turned the pile, a pleasant surprise! Can't wait to try making leafmold with one of the loads in a few weeks from now. A shortage of fallen leaves, Canada does not.
2-3 years?! I've always added to my compost to keep it balanced but I have SO many leaves this year I thought I'd make leaf mold as I'd never throw away something so valuable to the soil. Guess I'll have to wait awhile & look for a place to keep lots of plastic bags!
I love these tips. Can't wait to see if my lawn mower works to suck up leaves.
Mine aren’t on the lawn. Wonder what the best way to ‘mash’ them would be?
Leaves would decompose more quickly if accompanied by soil which has live organisms in it, and or grass clippings (brown and green mix).
I've covered my 40'x40' garden w/ about 8" of leaves every Fall for years, but it doesn't seem to be improving the soil at all. I just started using wood chips as a mulch last year after planting and hope this will be enough of an increase in organic matter.
Hope this helps. All those leaves should have had some effect though.
Thank you so much! I will start to keep my garden’s 🍁 🍁 🍁 too!🍂🍂🍂
The acid in pine needles does not make the soil acidic. That is a myth
Thanks for drawing our attention to this. The pine needles are very slow to break down and aren't easily washed away, so they would still be a great mulch around established trees and shrubs.
are pine needles good for roses?
I have a drum style leaf mulcher which cuts about a year off the breakdown time. I mulch the maple, birch and non-oak leaves into plastic bags and make holes like they did in the video.
That's a great idea David!
2-3 years to decompose? I think I'd rather add them directly to my garden underneath my wood chip layer. I did that a month and a half ago and I can already see them decomposing.
It's true, that would be quicker. But if you've got loads of excess leaves it's a great, cheap way to make more organic soil improver.
wouldn't that be pulling nitrogen from the ground that your plant needs?
Why not just put them in compost bin? Wouldn't that be the fastest way plus only makes your compost richer :)
David D
It’s what I’m doing now. When did bagging start? My father always covered the plants with them to winter.
I mix my leaves with sticks and mud, then I take them to work, where I use the cardboard bailor and then I bring them home to sit in the sun for five years, then I add them to the others that are slowly making large above ground swimming pool, I'm sure it will be a nice one thanks to your help
I live in Central Massachusetts, If your not careful the leaves will follow you in to the house.
So...they don't leaf you alone is the root of the problem? It must stem from Fall breezes.
Great video. Going to try making potting compost from leaf mould as you suggest. Hard getting peat free compost during the lockdown.
I covered my allotment beds in leaves last autumn, it was all absorbed into the soil by spring
busy collecting this autumn, i live in a flat so im busy lots of black bags on allotment
Great stuff Jeff. Hope you get some lovely leaf mold by the end of it.
I live in the mountains & ive noticed Pine needles don’t decompose...at least not so’s you’d notice. What I did one year was fill the pot hole in the road with pine needles. The cars driving on them broke them down into very fine bits & I re-add more as needed to the holes. As far as I was concerned it was a win-win on the private road...no one could afford to chip in to pave it over so I just filled in the holes!
The ultimate in sustainable road repair - fantastic!
I have a pile out back that has been in the making for 6 years. I have done nothing to it. But, I have started to notice it's getting close to the top.
You'll have loads of lovely leaf mold in there!
That's gold Jerry! Gold!
Hi, I have a few huge pecan tree limbs that recently fell that still have a ton of live green leaves. Can those be used immediately directly as landscaping mulch under trees and/or used as a brown when they brown in the compost? Or will they still be considered adding a "green" even when they turn brown? Will they be harmful as mulch since they are still so green? I've had a hard time finding this information on the web. Thank you
If you shred them then they'd be fine as a mulch, left on the surface around trees and shrubs. They will still be quite 'green' as they are fresh, but will offer the same protection as any other mulch and will rot down in time.
I build layers of leaves, food waste, and compost like a saucer around trees; they provide nutrients the trees need. It is also a good way of organic recycling
Great idea!
Hello, I have an orange tree that is dropping it's leaves in my garden bed. Is it ok to leave them there, or should I throw them away? A friend told me citrus leaves weren't good for the worms in the compost bin. Thanks for your help.
I think the citrus leaves would be fine wherever they are. You could level them where they fall as a sort of mulch, or rake them up and add them to the compost bin. Either should be fine.
I store leaves and when I cut the grass, the leaves are put between plants, grass on top. Great for the soil.
Suggestion: Make your leaf mold cages with plastic safety/snow fence instead of chicken wire and secure it to the stakes with zip ties instead of U-nails. Plastic fencing is easy to work with and you can cut the zip ties to open up and access the best leaf mold which, inconveniently, will be at the bottom of the pile ;-)
Great tips, many thanks for sharing
I like the metal version better, we don't need to use more plastic. :)
@@anneann9127 Agree! You can still make a flap that opens with metal mesh.
It's also very important in bio active vivarium soil! :D
My trees shed leaves almost year round so I've started bagging them with my lawnmower and put them in a compost heap and I've buried a few bags worth about a foot into our yard because it's a sandy clay soil and it need much improvement
QUESTION: I just had a maple tree removed and collected all of the leaves. I want to make leaf mold but the leaves are still green. Should I lay them out to dry first or can I start the process now?
I would just add them to your compost heap. Because they are still green, they will be relatively higher in nutrients than brown/shed leaves, so it makes sense to use them for traditional composting.
I use discarded untreated wooden pallets to build composting bins. They are easy to find at construction sites and contractors are glad to get rid of them. I wire them together at the corners and leave the front open for easy access. There is plenty of space between the wooden boards for air and water penetration.
That is a great way of repurposing old pallets.
@@GrowVeg Thanks, Ben. Love your videos. And your accent!
Hi I just wanted to know if I mix with whole-leaves and green grass clippings/kitchen waste . How long do I have to wait for decomposed.please reply soon dear and thanks in advance
Hi Nisha. That would give you a traditional composting setup - a mix of browns and greens. The time to make compost varies considerably according to ingredients, weather and location. But on average compost takes around six to 10 months to make.
@@GrowVeg thanks dear
I almost put black walnuts in my compost pile but someone warned me not to because of a poisonous gas they put off. Is there anything else we should look out for? Thanks veg guy!!
Most leaves are fine, especially if you get a good mix of them. Pine needles can take longer to decompose, however, so are sometimes worth composting down on their own for this reason.
It will break down in half the time if mixed with grass clippings. 2 parts leaves to 1 part grass clippings.
He said 2 years! If could be done in 2 months!