Spring Leaf Mulch
mainegirl04103
8 years ago
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sylviatexas2
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Better way to make shredded leaf mulch?
Comments (25)jugglerguy: Either way the maple leaves around here aren't ready to use as mulch in spring. Shredded they take less room & do compost faster. Left whole whether in large wire bins or plastic bags rolled around now & then they're not ready until at least 2 years. Have you heard of chop & drop a term by Ann Lovejoy, a Pacific Northwest garden writer? As you cut back spent perennials just chop them up & drop in place as your bottom layer of mulch, then top those with the shredded leaves as you acquire them in the fall for your uniform look. This way you only move them once letting them compost in place. In spring you could lightly rake through them a bit to freshen up the beds at the time you've usually applied the leaves. Sometimes, I pile it on thicker in places especially with perennials that don't mind mulch over the crown & come spring can spread it out a bit more after I pull it back from the crowns. Slug bait is a must in my climate all year round! Maybe you want to try a longer lasting mulch such as arborist wood chips if you can get them delivered to you. They last much longer here than leaves & the combo works to enrich the soil. Sometimes, I mix up a batch of mulch to top off the beds to include used coffee grounds along with leaves & wood chips. Once they're spread on the soil & we've had a few rains you really can't tell what the dark stuff is there....See MoreHow do I apply a leaf mulch?
Comments (13)In soms locales, how much can one expect a layer of leaves to be taken down by worms when temperatures are near the freezing mark. Any self-respecting worm will find the temperature up above downright too cold for his mucousy hide...and will want to find a hole...a deep one. Since temperature does influence how a thing decomposes, how much can one expect a pile of leaves to compost down between now and when the pile freezes solid. How many leaves does one expect to be there --piled up on the perennial beds, after any decent fall wind. AS many do suggest, a clean garden is a disease free garden. Leaves, as maybe having come down early....for what reason...are now lying on the lawn....and if the lawn has any diseases enshrined in the soil, that is surely now part of the leaves which someone suggests be put over our beds. A pile of leaves.....how much is a pile...how much should one expect to use in the fall and how much should one pick up. Leaves around strawberries....never heard that one...straw..yes...straw is very good to mulch strawberries. Leaves would the last thing I'd want to put around my strawberries. Leaves belong off the lawn....in the compost pile or in bags for later use as leaf mould....See MoreSecond thoughts on using leaf mulch
Comments (21)nckvilledudes, I'm glad you don't have issues with creatures. In this case however, schoolhouse's neighbors mentions the possibility and so I would trust their instincts first and do some preventive action. One pregnant rodent can produce 10 babies which become sexually mature in 2 weeks, and mama rodent can once again get pregnant at the same time as her offsprings... So you can see how a rat population and explode exponentially if not addressed. And where 1 rat can reproduce in plentiful, comes predators which include snakes (and I hope there are none in schoolhouse's area..) Mulching has many virtues but it does harbour disease and removal of mulches close to the base is something that is recommended by experts - that is how I learned of the practice which several years ago. I think I read it in Fine Gardening or Gardengate. Last year for example, I failed to remove mulch from the base of my grafted rose. It now has a disease located in it's graft union. A spongy causing virus or bacteria. Grafted plants are particularly susceptible because cold weather can cause minute cracks at it's graft union and disease can enter this way... Perhaps the choice of materials for mulching to reduce incidence of disease, for example peat moss has antibacterial properties. Shredded cedars are resistant to fungus and many insects don't like these... I certainly wish I used it when I had an explotion of earwigs last year. However I agree, leaf mould is a great mulch - it adds nutrients that are necessary for plants. I would only suggest that it's best to get these shredded before using as a mulch as it accelerates decomposition. I also would recommend using grass cuttings as mulch. As for weed seeds, it happens anytime even on top of mulches. I simply let it grow for a couple of days and then take a hoe and disturb the emergent plants and kill them. Ianna...See MoreLeaf-mold for next years mulch?
Comments (7)A couple of years ago while trying to figure out how to keep markers by my hosta (my idea where they should come up in spring NEVER was the same as where they really are) I was mentally multi-tasking. My winter mess of wire tomato cages was on my mind also. If you stack them they are difficult to seperate in spring. I came up with the idea of inverting a cage(tine side up) over each fading hosta and using fabric pins to hold it in place. Then instead of leaving a thick pile of leaves over the entire bed, once the ground was frozen I piled leaves a couple of feet deep inside the cages, which held the leaves in place. By spring they had broken down to about 6-8 inches of mulch and I knew where the hosta were. In the past I always raked tags away when cleaning up in spring. It worked, but did little to enhance the general soil in the bed. I now have each hosta marked with a rock/tag from the river that can't be raked away. Winter mulching really does help a hosta bed, but during the growing season my soil has been bare. I use a shuffle hoe to control new weed seedlings (which is probably why I never noticed hosta seedlings). I have had few slugs in the past but would like to try the shredded leaf-mold. I thought I had to let it break down over the winter and spread it in spring, so ken, you advice is very timely. Now I can use my compost bin as it is designed for, using just enough leaf shreds to generate and nice quantity of compost. Les...See Moremainegirl04103
8 years agokimmq
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
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