|
| I am thinking ahead for next year, and wondering which makes a better mulch for a veggie garden: dry shredded leaves, or leaf mold?
Should I keep the leaves dry in bags in the garage, or make leaf mold? If leaf mold, which is the fastest way of making it? I would have the leaves in November, and would need the mulch starting in May or so. This is my first veggie garden, and I'm already out of mulch :( Need to go scrounge some more conifer needles from my family's backyards... |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by lazygardens PhxAZ%3A Sunset 13 (My Page) on Fri, May 27, 11 at 11:40
| Pile them into a chicken-wire cylinder and pack them down as hard as you can, watering them between layers ... about every 1 foot or so, soak the heck out of it. In the spring, open the cylinder and mix it up ... you should have a mix of intact leaves and some decomposed ones and it makes a nice mulch. Next year, do the same thing and just keep adding to the veggie beds. |
|
- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Fri, May 27, 11 at 16:35
| Dry leaves blow away :-) You can mulch the leaves in place in the garden - depending on leaf size, you can leave them intact or shred - and layer them where needed. Fall rains and then winter weather will generally assure they stay wet (although you may need to spray them down initially) and by spring they will be at least partially, if not mostly, decomposed. Similarly, you can do the same thing with them in plastic bags if you prefer to use them later -- punch a few holes in the bottom to drain excess moisture and leave them out (and open). Decomp in the bags will generally be more complete than leaving them on the ground/in the garden, as the bags will retain more heat from the process as well as any solar heat. Leaf mold is only partially to nearly fully decomposed leaves. |
|
| If your soil drains well then applying the leaves in the fall will make less work for you next spring, and the leaves you put on this fall will be leaf mold next spring. Piling your leaves up this fall only to move them next spring is extra work that is unnecessary. Storing leavbes in plastic bags means that you are using a non renewable material to unnecesarily hold onto something that will make more work for you in the spring. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Soil Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.