Re: fall clean up
- Subject: Re: fall clean up
- From: E*@aol.com
- Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 20:52:20 EDT
In a message dated 10/27/01 12:46:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
mygarden@easystreet.com writes:
<< By the way, people around here seem to think that oak leaves are way too
acidic to make good compost. Does anyone agree with that? I think the pH
could be adjusted with dolomite lime - yes? I have to go to a nearby city
park and rake leaves to bring home for my compost heap! I don't get enough
leaves from my 2 deciduous trees (magnolia & flowering cherry) to make great
compost. >>
Go to the park! Yikes Marilyn,you have energy to spare. Can you not use
garbris as it collects over the summer. If you do not have a shredder you can
pile it up and whack it to peices with a machete. My husband can do this but
I have stopped him when grandson it around. Something about it is just, well
you know.............
The oak leaves do make acidic compost by themselves. Added to all the other
materials it does not seem to be a problem. We have naturally in this
mountainous area, soil with a very low pH. Blueberries grow in our lawn or
what serves for a lawn. I have learned to avoid or identify high pH plants.
Dianthus is very sensistive. There are many plants wanting a high pH. Some
iris, centranthus, delphinium, lilac, most alpines, quite a few more. If we
want to plant one of these we fill the hole with rubble from plaster
demolition. This may not be easy for all to find but overtime we had quite a
supply of it. Mix it around in the planting hole and it lasts longer than
the lime application.
Those oak leaves are pesky things. They dry stiff, blow all over the gardens,
do not break down easily and fall all winter and through the early spring.
They have one good use, maybe two. After the cold frames are really cold, a
bit frozen, we fill them up with oak leaves which do not mat down. Some old
garden recipe called for putting a garbage can full of oak leaves and water
to sit for a month or so and then pour the "soup" on the rhodies and azaleas.
Since it is, again, a job, probably most people just buy what they need at
the garden center.
Claire Peplowski
NYS z4
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