Composting Leaves

Raking leaves is over-rated as an activity in my World. Why, oh why do we love to see leaves on trees and yet get into a complete frenzy about clearing every leaf that dares to fall to earth? Whilst a rake seems a reasonable way of going about it - a leaf blower is complete overkill if you ask me. We've all suffered the weekend lawn mowers droning up and down. Moving on to Sunday leaf blowing is just a step too far, I think, there's even a facebook group - I hate Leafblowers As for leaf blowers, they need blowing up if you ask me. After we have suffered from the constant mower droning syndrome, do we really have to move on to leaf blowing throughout the Autumn months?! If you need an excuse to calm down on the leaf front, they do provide great food for your earthworm population who will come up onto your lawn at night and chomp through them and then produce fabulous worm casts. Whilst you have a small amount of leaves they make a great addition to your compost heap - especially if you have added lots of grass clipping over the summer you can also easily make leaf mould. Leaf mould is a very good soil conditioner - it can help replace peat, and it really helps retain moisture in your soil. Easy Steps to making leaf mould

  1. Collect autumn leaves. All types can be mixed together (avoid evergreen leaves)
  2. Water them, if dry, to help them rot
  3. Pack leaves into a suitable container - black plastic sacks with holes will do but hessian sacks - Leaf Bags work better (and look lots better!)
  4. Ignore them for at least a year or two.
  5. Use your well rotted leafmould as a soil conditioner and mulch.



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