Leaves, Leaves and More leaves

[RayinPenn]

I live in a fairly wooded lot here on the Penn/De border; (Carving out space for my garden was a took forever! I built 2 cold frames (1) planted with carrots on 8/1 and the other has spinach planted on 9/2. We have an anticipated first frost on 10/15). After all that work I wasnt happy with the soil at all!

The leaves have started to fall..(have to close the pool too!)
The soil here is all clay .. Everything I have read seems to say compost will do wonders! Ive added some peatmoss (kinda pricey) but next year I want my own compost. My question is I have grass clippings and tons of leaves..Are the leaves good for composting??? Somewhere I read that too many leaves isnt good ...any thoughts?

[kimbledawn]

Leaves are great you just need other things for balance. At my home leaves are scarce so I have to get them from neighbors or family. Just rake them in a pile, wet them and when you get other things add them to the pile. If not you'll have good leaf mould!!

[rainbowgardener]

Leaves are a treasure for your compost pile! When people start bagging up their fall leaves and putting them out for trash pickup, I go around and "steal" a bunch for my compost pile.

Read the sticky at the top of this forum about greens and browns. Your grass clippings are greens and really need to be mixed with some browns, of which fall leaves are a great example. Grass clippings particularly, being fine textured, can mat down and turn into a slimy smelly mess if not mixed with other stuff (leaves).

The only danger of too much leaves is that they can be a little slower to break down. But if you have too many leaves for the green/brown balance of your compost pile (if you also put kitchen scraps--green--in your pile, you can use up a lot of leaves to balance) you can make a separate pile of just leaves. Unless you shred them, they will take a long time to break down, but at the end of that process you will have leaf mould which is a wonderful, rich, fine textured stuff that would be GREAT for your clay soil.

[a0c8c]

I don't think you could have enough leaves honestly. Like rainbowgardener said, do an even mixed pile, and then take whatever's left and make a serperate leaf only pile. That way, when you start pulling weeds and cut your grass, you have browns to add with your greens.

[gixxerific]

I will add my take. Leaves are great as is grass and veggie scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds etc.

The leaves fall once a year but you cut grass all summer and than some. So I wouldn't be worried of too many leaves. Keep adding everything you can and mixing and you will have great compost of course not this year but next year you will have a stockpile. I just moved to a new subdivision that still has little trees, unless you count my two 30 foot willows. So I may have to do some midnight runs for leaves.

I have been adding all my grass to my 2 year old garden not so many leaves but it has already show some big improvements after this winter it will be even better. But my last house I added all my grass and the tons of leaves I would get in my yard. By the time I moved out the soil was most awesome. Both of the gardens were heavy clay at first so keep doing what you are doing and with time you won't even be able to tell there was clay there.

One more thing I heard, could be wrong, but the ratio should be 1 green to 3 brown. Here is a good little site the may help explain check it out https://www.composting101.com/c-n-ratio.html

[RayinPenn]

Thanks for sharing...Ill be sure and carefully save all my leaves and grass clippings and add them to the pile...

[gixxerific]

Another thing I do, that many other do as well is throw my grass clippings in the garden as mulch. Going to do that tonight. They are a great mulch to keep down weeds even deter certain pest from finding their way to your plants. WHen I had leave I would do this as well. They will compost down in the garden too. Of course if you have to much than a compost pile is ideal as well.

I was just out looking at my freshly prepared garden area from a few months ago. Which received a mass quantity of horse manure as well as grass clippings, lime, peat moss and some leaves. It already looks better in that short time. My neighbor was amazed at how rich my other garden looks just after 2 years. So keep at it and it will be lush and not clay one day.