Tuesday, 22 November 2011
How To Make Leaf Mould
A few weeks ago we collected leaves in garden club to make leaf molds and I remember seeing the leaves that were a year old and that they werent as broken down as I may have imagined. Leaf mold does not use green and brown organic matter like normal compost does and it takes longer to break down. The video suggested collecting leaves after a rain fall or when they are damp to aid the decomposition process. It also said that a handful of bone meal may help as leaves are low in nitrogen. It advised against using glossy leaves and gum based plants as the leaves take too long to break down and instead a variety of deciduous trees. I thought it was interesting that pine needles can be used to make an acid leaf mould. I'm not 100% on the uses for leaf mould but i assume that it is used to put nutrients in the soil and cover plants during the winter season.
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That's exactly right; leaf mulch can keep soil from eroding away during the winter and also keeps the weeds down in early spring.
ReplyDeleteThere are some people now who suggest that the use of bone meal could be responsible for the spread of prions that lead to mad cow disease. it'll be interesting to hear more about that as more information comes out.