Composting Leaf

Leaves make a considerable amount of contents when it comes to the pile of compost and dried leaves also occupy a prominent place in the garden wastes. In addition, shredded leaves make very effective and fantastic mulch for the garden. Leaves can either be shredded from the lawn mower or a leaf shredder.

Leaves can be composted in simple form, easily, in a pile in the garden or in compost or even a huge plastic bag will do. In leaf composting, the leaves have to be added in layered and on each layer, any one of urea, ammonium nitrate or bone meal has to be added which is to provide nitrogen needed to help break down the leaves.

The leaves are to be added to the compost bin and when the bin is full, water is added to make the contents moist. The bin is to be covered with a heavy tarp or heavy plastic. The contents have to be turned occasionally during winter and in spring; the leaf mulch can be added to the garden soil.

It does not matter, if the leaves contain white spots which indicates the presence of fungus and is a good nutrient for the mulch. This gives the added benefit of carbon rich and high nitrogen compost while it is mixed into the garden soil. It is better to compost shredded leaves since they compost faster and leaves that hinder the growth of plants such as walnut, camphor and eucalyptus have to be avoided. If leaves are unshredded, they form a barrier on the soil, preventing the penetration of water and hence it is better to shred the leaves before composting.