Decayed oak leaves and ferns

[wsommariva]

Hi everyone. I've been composting for several years. I have a few hundred oak trees and collect millions of leaves each year.

I have a large pile of decayed oak leaves that look like compost but without the green parts.

I also transplanted ferns from under oak trees to an area under a maple. Not doing great. I was thinking that they like oak leave mold better than maple.

So think I can put down 2 or 3 inches of oak leave mold in the new fern area?

Thanks

[rainbowgardener]

Your pile of oak leaves is not compost, but it is leaf mould (not related to mold like you find on the science experiments in your fridge, but from the old word for decaying: mouldering). It's really good stuff! Oak leaves are somewhat acid, but many ferns prefer acidic soil, so that's ok. Ferns that like acid soil include: cinnamon fern, ostrich fern, Windsor fern, sword ferns and royal ferns.

But I'm not sure you can just put down inches of leaf mould and plant into that. I would think your ferns still need to have roots down into the soil. Maybe plant them first and then mulch with the leaves or else turn a bunch of leaves in to your soil. But that's a guess, not something I have experience with.

[wsommariva]

Thanks for replying.

I'm just trying to supplement. I did learn that maple leaves are also acidic, so I'll add a few inches this Fall and see what happens.

[ChrisC_77]

Your pile of oak leaves is not compost, but it is leaf mould (not related to mold like you find on the science experiments in your fridge, but from the old word for decaying: mouldering). It's really good stuff! Oak leaves are somewhat acid, but many ferns prefer acidic soil, so that's ok. Ferns that like acid soil include: cinnamon fern, ostrich fern, Windsor fern, sword ferns and royal ferns.

But I'm not sure you can just put down inches of leaf mould and plant into that. I would think your ferns still need to have roots down into the soil. Maybe plant them first and then mulch with the leaves or else turn a bunch of leaves in to your soil. But that's a guess, not something I have experience with.

I started a small pile yesterday. About 4x4x4. Hopefully this is large enough to get the process going. I made sure the leaves were damp. Most of the leaves are whole and some are mulched up. They are comprised mainly of oak, which I was told once that can be highly acidic for your soil. Without them being broken down, Do you think it is possible to get usable leaf mould within a year? Does it need to be turned every few months? Also, just to confirm, it is not creating a mold product right? It is just fungi breaking doing the leaves creating a humus like finished product?

I have learned a lot in the last few years about organic gardening. My 1st year of compost was so-so. Last years is like black gold with some bits of leaves that I added a bit late. Happy with my results. I keep wanting to learn to use nature and not fight it because nature is the best provider.

[rainbowgardener]

yes, leaf mould has nothing to do with mold. It is from the old word mouldering, which meant rotting/ decaying. It is just broken down leaves.

Yes, if you make a pile of leaves now and do nothing but keep it a bit moistened, in a year at least the bottom of the pile will be well broken down, though the top may look untouched. I really don't bother turning leaf piles, just let them sit. But I'm a lazy gardener!