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Making Leaf Mould By UK Gardening Directory

submitted on 2 November 2012
We have four large sycamore trees in our garden and our next-door neighbour has a large beech tree, so through the autumn we are never short of leaves to use for leaf mould. Most leaves can be turned into leaf mould, but some take longer to compost than others. The best to use are oak, alder and hornbeam, which will soon rot down, while sycamore, beech, horse chestnut and sweet chestnut take a while longer.

It is worth making your own leaf mould as good quality, well-rotted leaf mould (more than two years old) can be used as seed-sowing compost, or can be mixed equally with sharp sand, garden compost and good quality soil for use as potting compost. Poor quality leaf mould, or leaf mould that is less than two years old can be used as mulch, soil improver, autumn top-dressing for lawns, or winter covering for bare soil.

Leaves from conifers and evergreen plants will take between two and three years to compost and should be shredded first before being added in small quantities.

I have tried producing leaf mould in polythene bags, as outlined below, but found that the only leaves that had rotted down were those that had been shredded first by my rotary mower. The others just formed a big clump in the bag and showed no signs of rotting down. However these were sycamore leaves - you may have better luck with other species such as oak, alder or hornbeam.

Saving leaves in bags

Take a black bin liner and punch a few holes in the side and bottom. Rake up leaves weekly and place in the bag. When almost full, sprinkle with water, shake and tie. Store in a shady spot and the following autumn the leaves will have rotted down into a rich, crumbly mixture that can be used as a mulch around the base of plants. Let the leaves rot down for another year if you want to use as soil conditioner.

If you have the space - and a lot of leaves to collect like me, try building a leaf cage. I made one last year for the first time and after 12 months I have a layer of leaf mould which should be ready to use next spring. I have just made another one to take this autumn's leaves. They are simple to make and shouldn't take you long. My method is shown below.

Making a leaf bin

Here's how to make a bin 60cm square by 90cm high - if you change the dimensions, make sure you can still reach easily into the bin to remove the leaf mould.

You will need:

3m length of 1m wide plastic coated mesh. I used 19mm mesh. 4 strong bamboo canes roughly 1.2m long. You could use wooden stakes of a similar length. Cane toppers Plastic cable ties Mallet

The mesh will probably have come off a roll and will tend to roll itself up. Overlap the ends by 50mm approx and fasten the mesh together using cable ties. The cage should now be free-standing.

Either thread the canes through the mesh to form your required shape of cage or hammer canes into the ground and use cable ties to attach the mesh to the canes.

Put cane toppers on each cane to prevent injury when adding or removing material from your cage.

If you want a cage of a different size just change the dimensions of the mesh you buy.

Keep your material watered in dry periods. I also aerate mine regularly using a lawn edger, which is relatively easy to get through the leaves and can then be twisted and pulled upwards to loosen the lower layers. As I said above, this method has worked for me - I hope it works for you.

An article by UK Gardening Directory

 







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