In The Fall

[opabinia51]

Yes, every fall all the leaves on Deciduous trees start falling to the ground and every fall, everyone starts raking them up and sending them off either to the dump or to city composting facilities. But, here is an alternative:

If you want to grow the best vegetables in your vegetable garden that you have ever seen (and for that matter the best perennials in your garden too!) go over the fallen leaves in your yard with the lawn mower and spread them over your garden area. Follow that up with some manure (that is either free or really cheap when acquired at local farms) and leave it until next spring.

You can refer to the LEAVES AND NUTRIENTS thread in the organic section to find what nutrients different leaves have.

Also, if you have clay or sandy soil. The leaves and manure will break up clay and fill up sand. Leaf mold will hold from 300 to 500 percent of it's mass in water and different types of leaves are loaded with nutrients.

The manure will aid in the leaves decomposition by providing nitrogen for the bacteria, fungi and so on.

[Grey]

Yep, I fully intend to take full advantage of those leaves, and will be begging neighbors for theirs, too.
Hopefully I can move a rake by then!

[opabinia51]

I hope that you can move a rake by then too Grey. Of course, you do have a husband as well Any children whom you could coax into raking leaves for you?

If you go over them with the lawn mower (and you have a grass catcher) you won't need to rake them up. Just dump the mulched up leaves into the garden. A little spreading with a rake is all that is needed. (BONUS)

[The Helpful Gardener]

Into the compost heap with mine! (ALthough I AM starting a new border and a big pile of leaves on top woul;d be a great way to start killing the grass in that area AND help start up the soil... )

[Grey]

No, Opa, no kids here. My "kids" are furry, have four feet and love to chase cats. Not so good at raking leaves - they do, however, know how to open certain doors and one of them is learning to help carry in the groceries.

I do the lawn mower mulching thing all the time. Definite bonus! Lawn mowing is now the DH's job too. At least until next summer, I suppose.

I don't expect our leaves to fall for at least another month or two tho. Are they going to soon near you all?

[grandpasrose]

Our leaves are not even near to falling yet - another month or so. I rake alot of my leaves onto my perennial beds to give them extra winter protection. Come spring, they have all dried up, and just need a little stirring up and I leave them as mulch! The perennials love it!

Of course I have a ton of leaves. We have an acre of property covered with birch, aspen, cottonwood, dogwood, apple, pear and chestnut trees. What leaves don't end up on the flower beds get mulched with the lawn tractor, and composted. They're wonderful to play in too!!!
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Let's not rush Fall; I'm still harveting 'maters...

Scott

[opabinia51]

Wow Grey, no kids to rake those leaves. To bad. The mower works great though. Yes, the Maples have started slowly losing their leaves. And leaves that have just blown off of some trees have been around for about a month now. I've been scrounging around for them.

So Val, is your chestnut tree(s) an Aesculus or a Castanea species? (Is it a horsechestnut or a chestnut?) Everyone around here plants Aesculus hippocantinium (the horsechestnut) which of course, is poisnous (sp?). They are nice looking trees but, I personally just don't understand why someone would plant a lethal fruiting tree as apposed to a tree where you can eat the fruit. But, that's just me.

Incidentally, the leaves of both Aesculus and Castanea trees make great compost.

[grandpasrose]

Mine is the Horse Chestnut. Yes the berry is poisonous - if you can get into it! They are incredibly tough and covered with prickles.
I think most people plant Horse Chestnut because it is hardier than just the Chestnut. They are an amazing tree though! We just look at ours in awe. It grows about a foot a year, and has the neatest handlike leaves that are about a foot across as well.
Then the blooms are in a long white plume that has a very pretty smell. It holds it's leaves well right into the cold, without changing color, and then all of a sudden one day, all the leaves drop off at the same time!!!
I know it seems odd to grow a poisonous version when there is a non poisonous one, but when one won't grow and the other will.........
VAL

[opabinia51]

I guess it is each to their own. I personally mainly grow plants that are edible, not to say that I don't appreciate the beauty of plants. But for me, the though is: "Why grow something that is poisnous when you can grow something that is edible?"

[grandpasrose]

Oh, don't worry, we grow plenty of edible plants. But we like to plant our share of trees too - they're part of the whole cycle too. The Horsechestnut really is a beautiful tree!
VAL

[opabinia51]

Around 1977, my mother planted two of them at the family farm (which, is now owned by another family) and my brother and I were always interested if we could eat them.
They are nice looking trees, I'll give you that.

My dad wasn't always sure that the nuts were poisnous so one time, we brought them over to a neighbour who proceeded to cut a piece of the nut and chew on it. Dad yelled out: "Pete! What are you doing?!" and Pete then spat eh bit of nut out and said: "Yep, it's posinous."

Yikes! We used to rent a parcel of Pete's land and harvest our hay from it each year. Ahhh memories.

[grandpasrose]

Believe it or not, the extract from the chestnut is used as an herbal remedy for varicose veins! Figure that one out - poisonous?
If you ever get to Hope, just past the Lower Mainland heading east, there is the most humongous HorseChestnut tree growing there in the middle of a block that is completely paved right up to it's trunk. This tree is about 50 feet high, and again as big around, just beautiful. But I couldn't help but wonder - where does it get it's water?
Many strange things in our wonderful world!!!
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

A lot of old herbal remedies are poisonous. Lungwort was for lung problems (cumulative nerve damage) Helebores were an old abortive (pure poison) Mayapples in your may wine ( The poison's name, Podophyllin, comes from the plants latin name, Podophyllum).

Anything can kill ya if you get too much; like water poisoning (some call it drowning... )

Scott

[opabinia51]

Yes, a lot of drugs are actually derivatives of plants or plant chemicals. And such drugs are actually poisonous (that word just looks wrong to me), in fact very poisonous. But, in lower doses, they do more good than harm.
I actually have lung, heart and other damage from some of the drugs that I have recieved over the years but, my ailments are gone (of course, now I have other ailments (sigh)). So, all things in moderation, I guess.

[grandpasrose]

So am I forgiven for my Horse Chestnut tree since it does have a medical purpose?
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Unless it kills someone!

Scott

[grandpasrose]

I think the only way it would kill someone is when it got so big and fell over on someone, and by then, I won't even be around!!!
VAL...............I still like my tree..... pout......

[opabinia51]

Or if someone were to eat a few of the nuts

[grandpasrose]

Have you ever tried to get into one of those nuts? They are rock hard, and covered with long spiky quills - not very appealing. I think they are already trying to tell you to stay away!!
VAL

[opabinia51]

Actually, where I live they are easy as pie to get out of their husks. But, all nuts have rock hard shells and with a nut cracker, it would be possible. Though, to this date I have not idea how people manage to get into roasted chestnuts, man those things are difficult to get into!


Oh yeah, and when Dad and I took the Aesculus nut to Pete, he just slit it open (effortlessly) with his buck knife. Though, that was Pete.

[The Helpful Gardener]

While I am a huge fan of natives (especially when planting trees), I am no native nazi. If you like it, and it ain't invasive, have at it...



Scott

[grandpasrose]

Why thank you Scott! I'll just have to make sure I have a guard around it if Opa and Pete ever show up!
VAL

[opabinia51]

Chaninsaw anyone?


Question, with an actual chestnut (Castanea spp) would a nutcracker actually work to get it open?

[grandpasrose]

The chestnut is covered with a spiny prickly burr all over the skin that you have to peel off to get to the actual nut. Then I believe the nuts have to be roasted, and then, yes they are opened with a nutcracker! Finally!!
VAL

[The Helpful Gardener]

If you don't slit that skin before roasting, you might as well roast shotgun shells...

Scott

[hugh]

Going back to composting leaves, we have a real excess of leaves.

So I constuct a cage of chicken wire - well its acutally the plasic version. I put a layer of leaves about 2 to 3 feet then a layer of soil about 3 to 4 inches. It is built up like a layer cake.

It takes about 6 months to fully rot down but it is excellent.

It holds water very well by the way, so it is an excellent compost of plants that don't like drying out. I use for example on rasberries.

Hugh

[grandpasrose]

Hugh - thanks so much for rescuing me and my chestnut tree!!!

Your leaf mulch sounds like it would be great for the garden! I bet the garden worms love it too!
VAL

[opabinia51]

Leaf mold is a wonderful addition to the garden, leaves contain more nutrients than manure and more carbon. Therefore, the addition of leaves, not only adds micro and macro nutrients tot he soil but, it also improves soil structure and addes to the humus layer.

I recently read a journal article on the availability of dissolved organic carbon and dissolved organic nitrogen under Beech, Pine and Spruce forests. The deciduous forests had much more dissolved organic carbon and the the DON (dissolved organic nitrogen) was much more chelated (chemically bound) in the beech forests as well. This means, that the nitrogen in beech forests (and I'm guessing we can extend this as a generality to deciduous forests) is chemically bound in the humus layer and therefore is not lost as a gas as easily.