Re: Mulching with oak leaves
- Subject: Re: Mulching with oak leaves
- From: B*@aol.com
- Date: Fri, 3 Oct 2003 22:42:01 EDT
In a message dated 10/3/2003 1:41:22 PM Eastern Standard Time,
justme@prairieinet.net writes:
> Excuse me Bill, but you are correct for the average backyard. I did have
> some property (summer place) that was literally a forest of oak trees. When we
> aquired it, no one had touched it in years. We took out a few trees and raked
> up years of matted leaves, a good ft and half deep. Had a very hard time
> growing anything till we amended the soil to nuetralize the effects of all those
> oak leaves. On another note, the surrounding 4 acres that were not going to
> be used, we ran the lawnmower thru the leaves thinking it would help them
> decompose. After ten years, they were still there.... killing off any hopes of
> natural vegitation. What I found is, some are great- too many and you have a
> problem.
Thanks for the observation, Donna. Even when I had a small garden and a huge
oak tree, I also had a large magnolia (talk about tough leaves!). But I always
mixed the two and I always shredded them, and I always composted them for at
least a year. I have a feeling that even if you use oak leaves only, as long
as you mix with other compostable materials, you're not going to have a
problem. Good compost should have different materials anyway, shouldn't it? Kitchen
wastes, grass clippings, weeds (without seeds), etc. I mix my compost with
some commercial potting soil when I'm potting plants up and they actually do
better than the ones in the garden!
Bill Lee
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