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Leaf mould
Esspee
Posts: 274
I am usually very patient (gardeners have to be don't we?) but having collected bins full of shredded leaves with my new vac. I really want results in a year, not two. In the past I have wet unshredded leaves and left them in plastic sacks with holes and eventually ended up using it to mulch the beds. Now I have the ability to shred I am much more adventurous and want to try to achieve the crumbly texture I have heard about but never achieved. What works best? Bin bags or chicken wire? Should I use an accelerator and if so what? Any other tips?
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There's a video on this website in the garden DIY section showing how to make a leaf mould bin using galvanised wire. I'm going to try squeezing one in my tiny garden somewhere.
Hi Esspee, read your post with interest . I only started collecting leaves last year to make leaf mould and put them in bin bags just like you did. Had a look at it the other day and was a bit disappointed at how it looked, but now I realise it takes a couple of years to look anything like soil we are looking for . Sorry cant be of any help but will follow your thread just in case you get some good info which would help us both
. Good luck.
Some of the forum regulars mix in small amounts of grass clippings too, they say it seems to speed up the process, along with shredding some of the tougher leaves.
I had a tip recently from the very helpful Fred (fredshed site) - if you have a strimmer - once the leaves are in your bin you can use the strimmer to 'process' them into much smaller bits that will rot down much faster.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
This new garden has mature trees so we have leaves to collect and compost. Our old garden was all new and any falling leaves tended to be blown into the neighbouring pasture by strong autumnal winds so it's all a bit experimental for us. We'll build a cage for the larger leaves like fig and walnut and also bung some of the smaller leaves in bin bags and then see what happens.
If you don't have a shredder, just go over them with a lawnmower to break them up a bit. Bag them - make sure they're not dry- make a few holes in the bags, then stick them somewhere out the way. They'll break down quite well within a year. If you want really fine stuff, you'll have to wait longer. Some leaves will break down quicker than others too.
A wire cage is ideal, but they will take quite along time to break down. Turn them frequently too to keep them aerated, and water if they get dry.
Accelerators are only for compost bins (although I don't think many people use them) - it's a different process for leaves breaking down.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have only read about the wonderful crumbly textured result of successful leaf mould, never achieved it. I have read that recycled beer/cider acts as an accelerant but the concentration is never mentioned. Some say they add grass clippings, some chicken manure but again no details. Perhaps it is a secret process known only to the few.
I 'shred' leaves through the lawnmower (see Fairy's response) and pile them up in those nice tough cubic metre builders' dumpy bags. I add some grass clippings per Bright Star's suggestion and keep the whole lot nice and damp. When I think on I give things a bit of a stir round over the winter.
All gets left until next spring by which time the leaves have started to break down. Then I start adding it in 4" layers to the compost bins. It is an ideal 'brown' layer to mix into the vast quantities of 'green' material (mostly grass cuttings) produced in spring and summer.
By autumn I usually have good quality compost ready for soil conditioning / mulching.
It's not leaf mould as such - but I don't have the space to wait for 6 cubic metres of leaves to rot down over 2 years. I also found that black bags didn't work in my garden - 'small creatures' had a habit of burrowing into them so they just fell to bits when time came to move them.
Last edited: 10 November 2016 16:27:31
I'm with Fairy and Topbird. Hoover them up with the mower and you normally end up with some grass in there too. Enough to speed things up, but not enough to become slimey.
I know it's not " leafmould" per sé but great as a mulch or soil conditioner. I too go for the builders' dumpy sack containment and a couple of bays made by pinning chicken wire to 4 trees in a square in the wood.
Esspee if you've got a vac that chops up the leaves they'll automatically rot down more quickly. Bag or bin, personally I bag and chopped is ready in a year. Bins do take longer if you just leave them but if you cover you bins and turn the leaves every few months it does speed up the process. Keep them moist as well.