Kitchen Garden Forum

The council has kindly dropped off a huge pile of leaves at my allotments. Shall i use them as a mulch on my empty beds, asparagus, raspberrys etc, or make leaf mould? I dont want to spread them everywhere and then they are a nuisance in the spring because they haven't rotted, but i'm not sure i want bin bags around my plot for the next two years either!

Mandy

I would be inclined to bag them up and let them rot until next autumn/winter. If you spread them now, the wind might have blow them away before they rot. Or, if you don't like plastic bags, could you make a simple wire enclosure, say, and pile them up in there?

Four posts, a length of chicken wire and a square of old carpet.

I use those tonne bags that builders merchants deliver sand in. They will take a lot of leaves to fill up then you can get inside, trample the leaves down and then get lots more in. No posts required as they will stand up on their own when full - and they're free.

John

Hi Mandylew. Leaves will take at least a year to rot in a leaf mould bin (or bag) and longer just spread on the ground, so don't use then as a mulch if you want them gone by next spring. They rot by fungal action so it is a lot slower than composting green waste.

Hope that helps.

Sue

John wrote:I use those tonne bags that builders merchants deliver sand in.

Hi John, yes I've got one of these half full of leaves.

Though it seems a good thing to use, does it provide enough aeration for the decomposing process? I can see that the 4 posts + chicken wire might be better in that respect.

In the meantime, I may also try to lower my flymo into the bag, to try & shred up some of the leaves. Here, the bag seems an easier option than doing this process on the lawn (though I'll have to watch out not to shred the bag too!).

Colin

thankyou i'll try the chicken mesh, I'm too shy too go roung builders yards asking for bags

Mandy

What is the best use of leaf mold, I have used it in the bottom of my potato trenches and also the bean trench, coud I use some as a mulch but for which vegetable

I read somewhere that you put them in a black bin liner with a cup or two of water. Seal the bag and then perforate it several times with a garden fork to allow aeration. Then stick them somewhere out of the way and forget about them for a year!

. . . or get your other half to provide the necessary instead of the 2 cups water

Carrots really love broken down leaf mold, I always rake some in before sowing the seeds.

I think leaf mould can also be used as seed compost. It is not too rich for the emerging seedlings but is full of moisture. I use mine for root crops and spuds too.

mike