Secondly, chicken manure, and cow for that matter, should really be composted before being used in a garden directly. 1. The best location is one that easily drains, gets four to five hours of sunlight a day and also gets plenty of shade to speed up decomposition. A compost pile requires the proper carbon and nitrogen ratio for quickest composting. Composting accelerates and controls the natural decay process to convert yard waste such as leaves into an organic soil conditioner. And as anyone with live oak trees knows, the leaves are pretty tough, unlike other, more brittle leaves belonging to other tree species. ) Oak leaves take longer to decompose than many other types of leaves. Not only do they tend to be tough and leathery compared to most other leaves, but the presence of a lot of tannins does seriously slow down decomposition … and usually what you want if you add leaves to compost is fast decomposition. Be sure to make the pile high because … A. Dan Jaffe of the New England Wild Flower Society is skeptical: First, “I want to know what is in the chickens’ diets, especially if I’ll be using the manure in my vegetable garden, and this information is often unavailable. The trade-off here is that if you choose to add kitchen waste to the compost, it will mean walking that much further to empty your kitchen container—but trust us, it’s worth it. Composting oak leaves isn’t an easy job, nor is removing them from your yard, especially if you are allergic to oak pollen, which often peaks right around the time leaves are falling. Something else those micro-organisms do? Oak leaves can be tricky, because of the natural preservatives in these leaves, so, oak leaves need mixing in with a larger pile of other leaves. , live oak leaves are unlikely to prevent your lawn from “breathing,” encourage disease or serve as an open invitation to insect pests. Note that not all leaves are created equally. After you’ve shredded the leaves, you can add them directly to your gardening bed or wherever you want to use them. Mulch beds with ground bark, wood, or leaves. Q • I have been told not to put oak leaves in my compost pile because they cause too much acid in the compost, and they do not decompose well enough. Ever since traders introduced an Asian fungus that wiped out billions of American chestnuts a century ago, the noble oaks have filled in as a foundation of the forest food chain. Wait until you have a good layer of green ingredients on top of the pile, then add the mashed acorns on top. What if you just can’t stand the sight of all those leaves mucking up your gorgeous lawn? Composting accelerates and controls the natural decay process to convert yard waste such as leaves into an organic soil conditioner. Unfortunately, you can’t just skip over the actual mulching part of mulching. Composting can reduce your waste by up to 50 percent. What exactly does it mean to mulch leaves? To encourage decomposition, you will need to use a rake or pitchfork to basically “mix” the compost pile regularly to incorporate oxygen. Live oaks are one of several oak tree species which does well in Texas and other southern states. Adding compost to your soil will encourage it to produce micro-organisms that not only enrich soil that’s already doing fine, but also help poor soil to regenerate. Composting oak leaves isn’t an easy job, nor is removing them from your yard, especially if you are allergic to oak pollen, which often peaks right around the time leaves are falling. deep.Cover this layer with about two inches of soil and water the pile. They deserve our care and patience. Resist pruning shrubs until it gets colder so you don’t stimulate new growth when they should be going dormant. Unfortunately, “eventually” can be a long time for live oak leaves. A compost pile requires the proper carbon and nitrogen ratio for quickest composting. You will need to continue the above processes and wait until the pile turns dark brown and crumbly and starts to smell earthy. Composting with worms, called “vermicomposting,” is fast and efficient. They draw in the nutrients and trace minerals which have leached out of the upper soil layers. If you’re knee deep in oak leaves and don’t grow ornamentals, don’t despair. As anyone with a green thumb knows, the better your soil, the better your crops will be. A. I am so glad that you are thinking of composting your oak leaves and not burning them. These towering giants also require specialized care that many homeowners don’t have the time to administer. Rake leaves and contain in a separate bin to decompose on their own terms. Ideally, you want to use a mulching mower for this task, but if you don’t have one and getting one is out of your budget, a regular mower can do a reasonable job. leaves in the compost, because they’ll be toxic to micro-organisms … or is that rather that they’re too acid? You really. Working in large amounts of compost to your flowerbeds and … The further your compost is away from your home, the further any pests that the compost attracts will have to go to find their way inside. A good leaf for composting has high nitrogen and calcium levels but low lignin levels, as this ratio breaks down faster. Want to throw away less? Leaves that have relatively little calcium (and other healthy minerals) can take as long as 2 years to break down, making them poor candidates for a compost pile. Full size fall leaves, as used as the main carbon material, make it hard to achive. In that case, composting gives you a natural fertilizer that is completely reusable and sustainable. And, because of the tannic acid in oak leaves, their compost tends to nicely neutralize Florida's often alkaline soil. I am 80, and don’t have decades to wait. Even if you think they are a pain, lots of oaks means lots of birds. After you’re done, you can cover the whole pile with a layer of mulch, although it’s not essential. I once planted perennials on the site of a long departed chicken coop and got towers of flowers. When it comes to recharging and building soil naturally, compost is king. Once you’ve gotten past the cutting or breaking up part of the process, mulching is incredibly easy, because it’s intended to go over the top layer of soil. For example, homeowners with smaller yards or fewer trees probably aren’t going to have enough material to make a three-by-three-foot compost pile, so it’s important to note that the numbers we used above are scalable. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @globehomes. There’s a short answer to this question and a long one. Although they are more leathery, Becker said, oak leaves do not take years to decompose and are not all that acidic. Shredded leaves will also take up less room in your compost. Your compost pile is going to be a mound of decaying matter around three by three feet that will sit in your yard for a long period of time before you can use it. Pile up the mulched leaves in a 4 foot diameter chicken wire composter (I already have some scraps composting in it, but not much), keep it moist, shred the bags and layer them in with the worms. Next, you should add about an inch of some kind of organic material. just spread the leaves out and let them sit there. Most of them come down to using the leaves instead of having them hauled away. Good options include bovine manure, existing compost, grass clippings or green weeds. Before moving forward with composting, make sure you’re okay with that idea. way to mulch live oak leaves is to do so with a mower. Can oak leaves be used as a garden mulch? Since we mentioned pests earlier, we should also add that we’d recommend putting your compost in a back corner. So, I think, what is behind this idea is not urine- not urine but general problem about fall leaves. I once ground up some and put them in the shrubbery. There are many good reasons to compost oak leaves, just like any other organic matter, whether you’re concerned about the environment, your landscape, or your wallet. Generally speaking, you want your pile to be as wide as it is tall, meaning a one-foot high mound of compost only needs to be a foot wide. Keep out pests and suppress diseases. Composting leaves, especially tree leaves is great for both your compost and your garden. If you keep chickens, you can let them forage organically, which will produce better quality eggs — and better feces. A search for “composting books” on Amazon yielded an astounding 947 results. I would gladly compost the maple leaves, but there is no way to sort them out. Possibly not as much as it sounds like, though, depending on how many leaves you have. © Copyright 2020 ABC Home & Commercial Services All Rights Reserved. But if you have the space and time, then leaves can be a great way to make extra compost for your garden. If you have lots of oaks, you probably should lime your lawn each fall. A very good mulching mower is a necessity. Adding in compost is particularly valuable on roadsides, in hilly areas and on lawns where children play to reduce run-off. However nearly everyone runs into a problem when trying to compost leaves. Fifty to 80% of these nutrients end up in the leaves so you'll find tree leaves rich in trace minerals. If you want to make good compost from leaves fast, then shredding is a must! Don’t compost plants with weed seeds. ... Bad Leaves - those higher in lignin and lower in nitrogen and calcium - includes beech, birch, hornbeam, oak, and sweet chestnut. Dried leaves are one source of carbon. Oak leaves are slow to decompose, but does that mean you should ban them from compost piles and mulch? Before we dive into that, though, let’s talk about a fear that may be gnawing at you: the acidity of fallen oak leaves and the possibility of it hurting your lawn. If you have a yard or garden of any size, you can capture these valuable nutrients by composting. Newcomers to Texas and other parts of the country where oaks are prevalent are surprised to learn that these stately trees lose their leaves in the spring rather than during the fall. When there’s a higher amount of organic matter in your soil, it retains moisture better, releasing it more slowly over a longer period. Unlike some other types of leaves, live oak leaves are unlikely to prevent your lawn from “breathing,” encourage disease or serve as an open invitation to insect pests. Some leaves compost more effectively than others. Also avoid leaves which can inhibit the growth of other plants (e.g., hackberry leaves). Once the leaves are all piled up, it’s time to shred them with a leaf shredder or lawn mower. Plain leaves will be broken down by fungi in a cold composting process which can take up to two years depending on the type of leaves. crumbly and earth-smelling form of organic matter that has gone through a natural decomposition process Q. I have an issue with the Oct. 28 column on composting leaves (“Ask the Gardener: Advice on bulbs, fertilizer, and composting’’). You can. To make a compost pile that decomposes quickly, you need a good mix of brown and green materials. Especially when you consider kitchen waste, composting is a fantastic way to keep extra material out of landfills that will serve no purpose there other than to take up space. Some top options are maple, elm, ash, poplar, willow and fruit trees. A good leaf for composting has high nitrogen and calcium levels but low lignin levels, as this ratio breaks down faster. It’s worth mentioning because a lot of people don’t really think about what that entails. The pulverized leaves can be composted or spread directly around trees and shrubs as nutritious mulch without worrying about weed seeds or smothering lawns. Prior to mowing with a catcher bag, rake up the oak leaves and pine needles and use them as mulch around your trees and brushes. Which means raking. The acid leached out and killed much of my front lawn. Finish planting hardy bulbs, as they cannot be stored over the winter. A nice middle ground may be to see if you can purchase a mulching blade for your current mower. Once you start mixing in your leaves make sure you start slowly and continue to stir the pile. Before you run out to your yard to clear them away, though, let us explain a bit further. Leave them in place, and, they will eventually break down on their own. When oak leaves are fresh, they possess a pH level of around 4.5 to 4.7, making them acidic. 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