Create Leaf Mulch - It's Easy

Every fall, gardeners make it a point of gathering leaves in order to create leaf mulch (which can be referred to as leaf mold, backyard magic, or backyard gold).   As a matter of fact, if allowed they will even pick up their neighbors' leaves in order to have more leaf mulch to put in their gardens.  And here's why 

The savvy gardener knows that although compost is excellent for improving soil texture and adding nutrients to the soil, the decomposed leaf mulch/leaf mold is the best soil amendment one can use and is truly backyard gold for many reasons:  

A. It is free for the taking
B. Even during the driest summer months, leaf mulch will help the soil hold onto water
C. Adding leaf mulch means ending up with humus (decayed matter) which improves the structure of the soil
D. Leaves provide carbon, a much needed ingredient in all types of soil
E. Earth worms love leaf mulch; therefore, the more leaf mulch you have the more worms and beneficial bacteria is in your soil. (As you know, worm castings is one of the best nutrient- providing ingredient you can add to your soil)

The idea is to gather as many leaves as possible, break them down as quickly and as small as possible so that hopefully the leaf mold will decompose into soil before the next spring.

The smaller the leaf particles the faster the resulting leaf mulch will decompose and turn to soil. If leaves are dug into a garden without first being shredded, there is a chance that they will not decompose thoroughly.

The negative side to leaves not having decomposed throughout the winter is that decomposition continues in the spring and perhaps even during the growing season. Nitrogen is necessary for decomposition, and the leaf will use up the surrounding nitrogen to decompose. That means that if you plant vegetables in the same plot where there are leaves not fully decomposed, the leaves will use up the nitrogen in your soil and the veggies, who also need nitrogen to grow, will suffer.

So if you are gathering up your leaves to create leaf mulch, the amount of shredding you do will depend on how fast you want the leaf mulch to decompose into humus (decayed material).

Here are seven shredding methods you can choose from. The first three methods require less work, but the decomposition takes longer (6 to 12 months). The last few methods will drastically speed up decomposition but does require more work (well worth it, I might add . . . and easy to do)

Method 1: Pile the leaves in a corner of your yard or over your garden, and wet down thoroughly. It would help if you occasionally shuffle through this pile of leaves so that air can find its way to the leaf, but other than that you can forget about it till spring. If you don't have too many leaves (more than 2 to 3 inches of leaves), it's likely the worms will have done their job by spring time, and the leaves will have decomposed.

Method 2: Another way to create leaf mulch is to pile your leaves into a wire or wooden bin at least three feet square by three feet tall. Then wet down the leaves with a hose, and when the pile is thoroughly moistened let it sit for the winter. The leaves will gradually break down over time.

Method 3: Store the gathered leaves into large plastic garbage bag. At this point you have a choice:

a) With your water hose, spray the leaves in the bag until all have been moistened; then close the top of the bag. To allow air to circulate freely through the leaves in the bag, puncture holes with a sharp object or even a garden fork. Then stock pile the bags somewhere out of the way.

b) Another alternative is to store the bags filled with leaves next to your compost pile, and leave the bag tops open so that the leaves will dry. The dried leaves make excellent "brown material" for your compost. Mix one part of "greens" (kitchen scraps etc.) to 5 parts dry leaves. You can add an accelerator to your compost pile to help it heat up.

Method 4: You can use a grass trimmer and a big garbage can to shred your leaves and break them down into smaller leaf particles and thus speed up decomposing. Simply dump an armful of leaves into the garbage can and shred by running the grass trimmer through the bunch of leaves. Keep repeating the procedure until the can is fairly full or you feel you cannot handle anymore leaves with the grass trimmer .

When you feel you have a sufficient amount of broken down leaves in your garbage can, transfer the leaf mulch to a plastic bag and choose method a or b in Number 3 to store your shredded leaves. Keep repeating the procedure until all the leaves have been shredded. See the video which explains how to create leaf mulch with a grass trimmer and a large garbage can.

Method 5: Alternatively, shred your leaves with a mulching lawn mower by spreading your leaves over the ground about 3 to 4 inches thick and passing over these leaves four or five times with your lawn mower. If your leaves are spread too thick, your mower might choke.

If your lawn mower can be equipped with a bag, you can collect your shredded leaves more quickly and easily. To finish, put your shredded mulch into a bin, leave them on the ground as leaf mulch to decompose, or add to compost bin. (See Method 3).

Method 6: IA great way to break down your leaves into leaf mulch is to install the bag on a handheld electric blower/vacuum and vacuum your leaves. As the leaves go through the system, they will be shredded many times over and end up as small particles of the original leaves.  Thus, the overall bulk of leaves will be reduced tremendously and the decomposition of the resulting leaf mulch will be accelerated. You can then empty the bag of shredded leaves into big garbage bags. (See Method 3)

Method 7: If you wish to break down the leaves into extremely fine pieces, rerun your leaves through an electric leaf eater after you have vacuumed them with the leaf vacuum(method 6). Creating extra fine leaf mulch by using the leaf eater requires extra work, but being able to break down the leaf into tiny, tiny pieces to the point where the leaf is barely recognizable is worth the extra work.

This leaf mulch can be used to top mulch overwintering plants to protect them against extreme cold in the winter. (Rather than burying the leaf mulch in my garden, I would put this mulch around my roses in late fall. I never lost a rose to frost or bitter cold.) In the spring, this mulch will break down more easily and quickly into a brown humus which can then be worked into the soil.

Like the fallen leaves in a wooded area will turn to a dark brown to black soil which has a beautiful earthy smell and a crumbly texture so will your leaf mulch. Simply use this recipe of shredding leaves to create leaf mulch which in turn will break down into beautiful soil. That is the best way to use leaf mulch to supercharge and amend your garden soil.

About the Author

A gardener for years, Marcie has learned not only the value of composting and using it to put nutrients back into the soil but also using leaf mulch as an excellent soil amendment. Download free ebook on Organic Vegetable Gardening or get further explanation on how to create leaf mulch at http://supercompostingtips.com/shredding-leaves-videos/ 

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