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opabinia51
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Save the Leaves!
Yes, lots of leaves around in my neck of the woods. SAVE THEM for composting next year. A nice pile in the back corner of the yard will provide ample browns for next years compost piles, trenches and sheets.
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grandpasrose
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You sound like me Grey! I have donated to me the grass cuttings and leaves all year round from two of my neighbours, my dad, three of his neighbours, and my sister (who lives in a different town). They keep asking what I am going to do when I run out of places to put them, and I just say "that's never going to happen"! 
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opabinia51
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By your comments, I am guessing that you have not yet moved Grey?
You'd better believe it that all those leaves are the best thing since sliced bread, as I have said in another thread; leaves (pound for pound) contain more nutrients that does manure.
If you are spreading leaves on the ground in a sheet compost, be sure to put some sort of green on top of them like grass clippings, coffee grounds, manure and so on or the leaves will take years to compost into nice soil. Also, they will tie up any nitrogen in the soil while they are composting.
You'd better believe it that all those leaves are the best thing since sliced bread, as I have said in another thread; leaves (pound for pound) contain more nutrients that does manure.
If you are spreading leaves on the ground in a sheet compost, be sure to put some sort of green on top of them like grass clippings, coffee grounds, manure and so on or the leaves will take years to compost into nice soil. Also, they will tie up any nitrogen in the soil while they are composting.
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opabinia51
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grandpasrose
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opabinia51
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Thanks Val,
Just finished the first midterm about 20 minutes ago. It went well. It was supposed to be 50 questions but, the prof goofed and made it 30 questions. Wasn't hard.
Next one is at 1 pm.
Got another 4 bags of leaves for my leaf mold pile last night. That makes 8. I plan on getting 2 more after my exam this afternoon.
Pile those leaves up people! Nothing better for your soil than leaves with some greens to help them compost.
Incidentally, for my leaf mold pile I have tonnes of leaves and I will add a bag of horse manure to the pile and turn it over this weekend after adding the ten bags of leaves. Then, I'll rake up all the apple and maple leaves from the property and put them on top and turn the pile again.
This should allow the pile to slowly compost but, still provide me with lots of leaves for next spring and summer for trench and regular composting. Also, for a mulch to go over the top of my garden once the vegetables are up.
Just finished the first midterm about 20 minutes ago. It went well. It was supposed to be 50 questions but, the prof goofed and made it 30 questions. Wasn't hard.
Next one is at 1 pm.
Got another 4 bags of leaves for my leaf mold pile last night. That makes 8. I plan on getting 2 more after my exam this afternoon.
Pile those leaves up people! Nothing better for your soil than leaves with some greens to help them compost.
Incidentally, for my leaf mold pile I have tonnes of leaves and I will add a bag of horse manure to the pile and turn it over this weekend after adding the ten bags of leaves. Then, I'll rake up all the apple and maple leaves from the property and put them on top and turn the pile again.
This should allow the pile to slowly compost but, still provide me with lots of leaves for next spring and summer for trench and regular composting. Also, for a mulch to go over the top of my garden once the vegetables are up.
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The Helpful Gardener
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Wilma is probably going to knock much of my leaves on the trees onto the ground.
That's okay, I told DH we are making a new plant bed this weekend. Hopefully he has not forgotten, because I have not! And all the leaves from Wilma will be needed to mulch that bed. And then the rest of them can go there. Until the neighbors donate....
That's okay, I told DH we are making a new plant bed this weekend. Hopefully he has not forgotten, because I have not! And all the leaves from Wilma will be needed to mulch that bed. And then the rest of them can go there. Until the neighbors donate....
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opabinia51
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Stay safe with Wilma everyone.
Yes, both the midterms went really well. They weren't hard.
Got those ten bags of leaves (7 bags of Tilia americanus and three bags with various types of Maple with a few paper birch leaves in one as well) out to the garden last night. Looking forward to adding them to the leaf mold pile tomorrow.
Through years of hounding I have finally convinced my mother and stepfather to do the leaf thing on their property and my stepfather is borrowing a leaf mulcher to mulch up all his leaves. All their beds should be a lot better next year.
Yes, both the midterms went really well. They weren't hard.
Got those ten bags of leaves (7 bags of Tilia americanus and three bags with various types of Maple with a few paper birch leaves in one as well) out to the garden last night. Looking forward to adding them to the leaf mold pile tomorrow.
Through years of hounding I have finally convinced my mother and stepfather to do the leaf thing on their property and my stepfather is borrowing a leaf mulcher to mulch up all his leaves. All their beds should be a lot better next year.
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opabinia51
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In that gardening book that I recommended people to buy if they live on the west coast it says that for your compost, it is good to have as varied amount of possible of greens. And that this will provide as many nutrients to your compost as possible.
I have something to add to that: Also have browns that are as variable as possible. As many different types of leaves as you can get but, be aware of Allelopaths like Oak and Walnut. (And any others that people are aware of).
I collected a few bags of Paper Birch and also weeping Willow yesterday. Good stuff!
Spent hay is also a good source of browns and if you have the hay at the bottom of your compost pile, sheet compost or what have you, the seeds in the hay will rot rather than germinate.
I have something to add to that: Also have browns that are as variable as possible. As many different types of leaves as you can get but, be aware of Allelopaths like Oak and Walnut. (And any others that people are aware of).
I collected a few bags of Paper Birch and also weeping Willow yesterday. Good stuff!
Spent hay is also a good source of browns and if you have the hay at the bottom of your compost pile, sheet compost or what have you, the seeds in the hay will rot rather than germinate.
On Gardeners World, Monty Don showed how to mow piles of leaves to cut them up and help them break down into compost quicker. In fact he said by bunging the leaves in a bin bag and damping them down (and making a couple of small holes in the bottom of the bag), this will cause the leaves to turn into leaf mould in about 9-12 months! 
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The Helpful Gardener
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opabinia51
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opabinia51
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Yes, I currently have three piles of leaves in my garden:
1) The huge pile of mixed leaves for general composting and mulching purposes (next year)
2) A pile of Big Leaf and some other type of Maple (for the first layer of sheet compost next October)
3) A pile of Apple, hazelnut, plum and cherry leaves (for the second layer of leaves in the sheet compost next October (first))
Save the leaves now and you won't be scrounging around for them next spring, summer and fall.
(My grandmother has these huge 105 year old apple trees in the yard. Wow, if those trees could talk. I think that the plum tree is a decade or so younger than the apple trees.)
1) The huge pile of mixed leaves for general composting and mulching purposes (next year)
2) A pile of Big Leaf and some other type of Maple (for the first layer of sheet compost next October)
3) A pile of Apple, hazelnut, plum and cherry leaves (for the second layer of leaves in the sheet compost next October (first))
Save the leaves now and you won't be scrounging around for them next spring, summer and fall.
(My grandmother has these huge 105 year old apple trees in the yard. Wow, if those trees could talk. I think that the plum tree is a decade or so younger than the apple trees.)
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NatGreeneVeg
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I've done that before, unintentionally, just didn't get to the 24 bags until the next year. What was sitting around for 7 monts was fabulous to use for mulch. But now I have a LeafEater leaf mulcher. I finally used it a year ago to mulch all my beds. This spring I never saw so many worms in my soil. Fantastic!Marge wrote:On Gardeners World, Monty Don showed how to mow piles of leaves to cut them up and help them break down into compost quicker. In fact he said by bunging the leaves in a bin bag and damping them down (and making a couple of small holes in the bottom of the bag), this will cause the leaves to turn into leaf mould in about 9-12 months!
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The Helpful Gardener
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opabinia51
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The Helpful Gardener
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Worms love carbon; don't know exactly why. I suspect they are fond of fungal mass to some degree, but then why more worms in grassland than forest soil? Still, when you put paper in a vermicomposter they flock to it...
The real beauty is that it ain't a V8 engine; you don't have to understand it to make it all work for you... it just does
HG
The real beauty is that it ain't a V8 engine; you don't have to understand it to make it all work for you... it just does
HG
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gixxerific
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Why is it that you should stay away from these types of leaves? I have been getting leaves by the truckload off of a roadside near me. I didn't think about what type of leaves I was getting. I was just piling them up, some were even half composted which I thought would be a bonus. The area I'm getting them is a heavily wooded (I don't know if I would call it a forest but...) area with many kinds of trees. I would think that many of them are Oaks which grow all over around here.opabinia51 wrote:I have something to add to that: Also have browns that are as variable as possible. As many different types of leaves as you can get but, be aware of Allelopaths like Oak and Walnut. (And any others that people are aware of).
Should I check this out, or is it something I shouldn't worry about too much?
Thanks
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The Helpful Gardener
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No , Gixx if Opa is talking it's always worth listening. But I am a little surprised to see oak as an allelopath. They are higher carbon than some other hardwoods and high in tannins, which makes them a very fungal soil, but I didn't know they had a chemical component like juglone in walnuts...
Just checked and Opa is spot on. This [url=https://www.regional.org.au/au/allelopathy/2005/2/1/2499_djurdjevicl.htm]Serbian study[/url](focused on grasses) showed nearly complete suppresion of germination; looks like a series of phenolic acids (including syringic acid (lilacs?) and vanillic acid (Vanilla?). Turns out red (swamp)maple and red pine are suppressed by oaks...
And Number one on the Google Search? Us! An [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1223]old locked thread[/url]from yesteryear started by...Opa. Who years later now has the answer and is schooling us. See, Gixx, I right about paying attention to Opa. Couple years ago asking the question, and now answering it. That is why this Forum is as good as it is, folks like Opa who learn and then share.
So yeah, Gixx, you should check it out...
Note in the old thread I suggest a little preemergent in my compost may not be entirely unwanted. In my case that's entirely true; most of mine is used as mulch (Not the kitchen scrap bin or the tumbler, but the big piles). I have pines which are rich in terpenes, found to be both phytotoxic (kills adult plants) and pre-emergent (stops seed germination). And LOTS of plants from [url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19154161]eupatoriums[/url] to [url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T4R-4V34RPN-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1081711968&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=ce95a4b951546c1edd35a127cbc25abc]marigolds[/url] have them. So yeah, check it all out, but don't freak out too much either.
I have mulched several beds with straight pine needles for years, and with just a few exceptions, everyone is still growing great (Brunnera do NOT like it; 'Jack Frost' has been going backwards for two years and will move this spring). Fair amount of pine needle in my veg garden too, and no issues there. And oak leaf duff (Q. rubra)is everywhere at Mom's; we pile it to knock down weeds and some end up in the bed no matter how many times you rake, and somehow things still grow. Nature sorts itself out pretty well in the long run and even my volatile pines, taken in moderation are still workable. Even black walnut leaves don't stay around forever; composting is a great way to start the process. Just be aware of too much of a good/bad thing...
HG
Just checked and Opa is spot on. This [url=https://www.regional.org.au/au/allelopathy/2005/2/1/2499_djurdjevicl.htm]Serbian study[/url](focused on grasses) showed nearly complete suppresion of germination; looks like a series of phenolic acids (including syringic acid (lilacs?) and vanillic acid (Vanilla?). Turns out red (swamp)maple and red pine are suppressed by oaks...
And Number one on the Google Search? Us! An [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1223]old locked thread[/url]from yesteryear started by...Opa. Who years later now has the answer and is schooling us. See, Gixx, I right about paying attention to Opa. Couple years ago asking the question, and now answering it. That is why this Forum is as good as it is, folks like Opa who learn and then share.
So yeah, Gixx, you should check it out...
Note in the old thread I suggest a little preemergent in my compost may not be entirely unwanted. In my case that's entirely true; most of mine is used as mulch (Not the kitchen scrap bin or the tumbler, but the big piles). I have pines which are rich in terpenes, found to be both phytotoxic (kills adult plants) and pre-emergent (stops seed germination). And LOTS of plants from [url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19154161]eupatoriums[/url] to [url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T4R-4V34RPN-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1081711968&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=ce95a4b951546c1edd35a127cbc25abc]marigolds[/url] have them. So yeah, check it all out, but don't freak out too much either. I have mulched several beds with straight pine needles for years, and with just a few exceptions, everyone is still growing great (Brunnera do NOT like it; 'Jack Frost' has been going backwards for two years and will move this spring). Fair amount of pine needle in my veg garden too, and no issues there. And oak leaf duff (Q. rubra)is everywhere at Mom's; we pile it to knock down weeds and some end up in the bed no matter how many times you rake, and somehow things still grow. Nature sorts itself out pretty well in the long run and even my volatile pines, taken in moderation are still workable. Even black walnut leaves don't stay around forever; composting is a great way to start the process. Just be aware of too much of a good/bad thing...
HG
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gixxerific
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Great I'm not big on identifying trees so I guess I will have to look them up and go see if they are the same. I have a poo load of leaves at my house right now. What do I do if they contain oak leaves just go with the flow and hope for the best or get rid of 2 truckloads of leaves?
you were saying they have a herbicidal affect on grasses. If my memory serves me right there was no grass in that area. I was raking up rocks, that is a bad sign right there. It is a newer development and they have been doing some work right there so maybe that has something to do with it.
Now you tell me.
:EDIT: I just went through 50+ sites and didn't come up with much. The ones that had examples of trees that were allelopathic only mentioned the Northern Red Oak as being this way. Well actually 1 had some research on Blackjack Oaks. There were a few references to the brassica family as well with an emphasis on broccoli, go figure.
Opa do you have anything to add?
you were saying they have a herbicidal affect on grasses. If my memory serves me right there was no grass in that area. I was raking up rocks, that is a bad sign right there. It is a newer development and they have been doing some work right there so maybe that has something to do with it.
Now you tell me.
:EDIT: I just went through 50+ sites and didn't come up with much. The ones that had examples of trees that were allelopathic only mentioned the Northern Red Oak as being this way. Well actually 1 had some research on Blackjack Oaks. There were a few references to the brassica family as well with an emphasis on broccoli, go figure.
Opa do you have anything to add?