Re: Use of composed leaves
- Subject: Re: Use of composed leaves
- From: "Karen B." a*@earthlink.net
- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 21:11:42 -0400
Marge Talt wrote:
> The only other note is that you might need to add some high nitrogen
> fertilizer. I find that my leaf mould is low in nitrogen and if I
> don't add fert. plants tend to be a tad yellow.
>
> What you plant in this will leap for joy.
Hi Don,
In my rookie gardening days (a whole 5 years ago! and I still consider
myself a rookie) I amended a very large bed with nothing but leaf
compost. We tilled the bed first, the put down about 6-8" of leaf
compost, then tilled again to mix the soil and compost. (Tilled only as
deep as the tiller would go.) I'm not sure just what type of soil I
started with except I do know it is not heavy clay. Maybe light clay, but
a lot of rock (drove hubby nuts when tilling).
In the last few weeks I have completely dug up and rearranged this bed.
In all but a few small areas the soil is still looking good. I'm hoping
to get a truck load of leaf compost in the near future and use it as a
top dressing / mulch.
I have never applied fertilizer and everything is doing great (no
yellowing) even having used chipped white pine as a mulch which I
understand is supposed to rob nitrogen. The soil level has dropped a few
inches.
Just mix the compost and the soil together and you should be fine.
Just remembered something - a few years ago I had a plain ole
uninteresting green hosta given to me. I wasn't sure what I was going to
with it, so I temporarily planted it in my big pile of leaf compost. It
spent the last month or so of summer and all winter in the compost pile.
It loved it and the next summer it grew like crazy!
Karen
z5a
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