Decomposed leaves and matter from forest

[latinpr0phet]

I live next to a forest with many trees and tons of decayed and decomposed matter on floor. Is it a good practice to go pick some up and use in garden or in composter? To assist in current composting or as a quickie for the garden?

[treehopper]

it's kind of like horse manure, if your pile is getting hot enough, I wouldn't hesitate to add it to the pile, but if not, who knows what weeds you could be introducing to your garden.

[rainbowgardener]

Personally I think leaf mould from a forest floor is wonderful stuff for your garden or compost pile and not very likely to have much weed seeds.

I just wonder if it is okay to take stuff from a forest....

[Bobberman]

Its great for compost but for the garden too many tree seeds! There are also lots of worms. I have a forest near my garden and lay carpets over the weeds so I don't have tocut it. I lay it with the back up old used carpets! After a rain lots of worms under the carpet! Pine needles in the forest are also good.!

[RogueRose]

Personally I think it should stay on the forest floor. It plays a very important role in the life of the forest. Just sayin'

[Bobberman]

I would like to have a large vacum and drive through the forest and suck up bushels of materials for compost. Most of the forest leaves are wasted since there are so many and only get deeper but are used up by some of the trees. Lots of bugs on the grounds. You can't really dig since there are roots everywhere! Pine tree areas are easier access to materials that it seems nothing wants to eat and they are the best for compost and things like strawberries or roses!

[cynthia_h]

Just because we don't understand the full life cycle of the forest doesn't mean the forest duff is "wasted." Forest creatures, large, small, and even microscopic, depend on it for their lives.

If I can remember where I read this, I'll come back with the citation, but when farmers in at least one Central European country started carting forest "compost" to their own fields, two things happened:

1) their own fields did very well, but

2) the forest trees which had previously yielded nuts and given homes to many birds no longer did so nearly as abundantly. This effect was felt in the very short term (approx. three years).

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Bobberman]

Ya I agree the forest are very important to the life of everyone since trees are the lifes breath of everyone! I would still use some of the materials at hand for a compost since its rich in everything a plant needs once composted. I guess you could say the forest floor is a giant compost which gives off heat and protects and gives a home for some many living things!

[toxcrusadr]

Moderation in all things is the key. A small and limited amount of harvesting could probably be done, but Cynthia made the point better than I could that forests are a complete ecosystem and need all their parts.

I've been reading a book about the impact and role of fungi in ecosystems, and it's amazing. Particularly in forests, the fungi break down dry leaves and wood enough for bacteria and others to go to work. Disturbing this system too much will have a detrimental effect.

[estorms]

I take anything I can get for the compost pile. Just be reasonable with the forest. A pailful here and there isn't going to hurt, but don't take a bulldozer and scrape it all up. Right now it's hard to get leaves, so I'm going for a load of sawdust.

[Bobberman]

Sorry but I don;t think that way everything is changing all the time and always benifits something else. What ever you do will hurt something and benifit something else. Even a forest fire spreads seeds of some trees! Good and bad is not always black and white!

[toxcrusadr]

Which is why my advice along with several others was 'moderation' and 'use some but don't take it all.'

[ReptileAddiction]

I think that it is NOT a good idea. If it is private property you could get a ticket for trespassing. If it is government owned it is most likely a felony. If you want that type of metter just ask friends if you could rake up their old pine needles. I have a pine tree that goes over my backyard that I sweep the needles up from my patio and throw them in.

[toxcrusadr]

That is a good point Reptile. I missed the fact that the original post said "I live next to a forest." Regardless of whether anyone actually cares, it's not a good idea to take from someone else's land without asking.

[GardenRN]

*Prob not too many weed seeds

*Yes a lot of tree seeds

*not sure if anyone considered bringing in extra pests to your garden. (although I'm sure someone will point out that you could also be bringing beneficial insects in)

*Lots of people give away raked leaves in the fall for gardens etc. Or you could stop by and offer to rake up the leaves if you can keep em. If you're looking to go into the woods and get 2 -5gal bucketfulls I doubt its gonna hurt. Heck I'm sure a pickup truck load wouldn't....if it was just once. But I bet if you did it consistently it would have adverse effects.

[GardenRN]

Cynthia, I think what you're talking about is on more of a commercial level. I don't believe one person getting a little compost for their back yard can possibly take enough for the forest floor to notice the difference. I agree too much removal would be a very bad thing. But even getting a pickup truck load would be almost too much work to be worth it. Small scale I think is fine.

[cynthia_h]

I *still* can't remember where I read this, but it was on the order of independent farmers bringing out wheelbarrows of the stuff, not tractor-loads.

Forest ecosystems are pretty fragile, with very small margins of survivability. My personal recommendation would be not to take any of the "duff" out of a forest.

Cynthia

[ReptileAddiction]

I agree with Cynthia. You can get leaves and stuff for free WITHOUT potentially harming a VERY sensitive ecosystem.