Fall leaves

Each fall, hubby and I drive around the neighborhood and pick up bagged leaves. Last year we gathered around a hundred bags and distributed the contents into the rows between our raised veggie beds.

Anticipating more leaves being gathered in the very near future, I started spading up the wonderful rich, black, crumbly, FREE DIRT the earthworms have made from them. I LOVE earthworms!

I do too!! I have a question about leaves and not real sure where to post it - so I'll try here.

We have tons of leaves to rake up each fall. Last year my husband blew a thick layer of them over my iris bed. I was not in great shape physically, so I left them there. When I raked them off this spring, my iris looked great and bloomed better than usual. My question: I always rake the leaves from my flower gardens and was thinking about just leaving them there this year for winter cover. I'm a little concerned that it might encourage grubs, etc. Anybody ever try this?

Thanks for any help.
Dathen

Last year I left whatever leaves blew into the beds right where they were. By this summer they'd rotted, making for very happy plants!

This year, the landscaping guys will be running over the leaves with a lawnmower and giving me cartloads of the shredded results. After it gets dumped on the pile of this summer's grass clippings (also from the landscaping guys) and shredded junk mail, I'm gonna have a ton of compost by this time next year.

Thanks, PP and CCG. Sounds like it works well for you - I'm going to try it too. I agree with pulling the leaves back from the plant stems - although they were piled so heavily onto my iris last year that the whole plant was covered and I just took all of them off. I was thinking about just putting a light layer of pine bark mulch over them in the spring - it will certainly save on the mulch.

We have so many leaves that they don't get shredded. They are just put into big piles at the edge of the woods and I take the ones from the bottom every year to use as compost when I plant.

After seeing how well the iris responded, it just seems a shame not to let mother nature do the work instead of me. Thanks again. It is good to hear of others' experiences.

Dathen

I, too, leave most of the leaves where they land, or blow them into the various beds, with dependably good results.
I am east of Seattle a bit, and we are known for 3 things:
Wet weather, evergreens & Starbucks Coffee. Coffee - a story for another time.
I removed a number of evergreens from the lower part of my property that were older & problematic. (Not many folks plant deciduous trees here, so there is a bit of a leaf shortage - I've had to go out & find them in the parks, or neighbouring areas.)
In any case I redid that area & planted an orchard. Now I have leaves for the orchard, but not enough for the veg garden or the borders. I finally got a truck this year so bringing leaves home won't be an issue.
I usually will grind up what I can, but it's so wet here in the fall that it becomes a leaf-sludgefest. I have also left them in big trashbags with a few worms, who transform them into the loveliest mulch over the winter. My vote is to do what you can, but letting nature take its course has worked well for a very long time.

Like Katye, in Fall I end up gathering up random leaves and putting them into bags over the winter, intending to shred them but not getting around to it. I throw in some handfuls of compost, but I think adding a few worms would be good too! Anyway, by spring even the leathery oak leaves have begun turning into leaf mold to use in my garden.
Anyway, dathan, it sounds as if your irises loved their nice leaf blanket of leaves last winter--must have been a good warm blanket for them!

Since I had no garden beds initially, I just gathered some lawn leaves, leaf mulch from the woods, cupful or two of compost and left them in a bag with some holes punched in it. I watered every once in awhile if it didn't rain. Over the winter they decomposed and left the ground underneath grassless and ready to dig in spring.

I wish I could send some leaves your way. We rake for weeks in the fall and they just keep coming. I think with last night's rain and wind we're about 90% down.

Re the leaves in bags over winter--I'd suggest that they need to go in the bags very well moistened, or that you add water later (like Pamgarden said) , cuz I have had some very dry bags of leaves that were unchanged by spring.

Sally - any leaves in the Fall out my way are guaranteed WET. It's a given in our typical Autumn weather. The leaves in bag deal is optimal if you make some holes in the bag - the worms can crawl right into the soil if they need/want to do so. Coffee grounds makes it fun for them, too.

LOL--I DO LOVE to rake fall leaves when its just rained!!! I just know they're ready to ' go' And love the smell!
When I get the *star-pucks* they come in a huge doubled bagged trash bag. If I can get the knot open without cutting, that gives me two super duper clear-ish bags for my fall leaves. WOO HOO

SallyG, you're right about the leaves that go IN dry and come OUT dry without some added moisture. I've had those! The good news is that they're easy to shred when I finally get around to it.

dathen - one drawback to leaving leaves on your beds overwinter is that if they are large, they tend to clump together and water doesn't penetrate into the soil below very well.

I have found that if I put the leaves into the walkways between the beds, the earthworms and my walking on them breaks them down nicely. After a few months, I can gather the broken down leaves - and it is these that I prefer to put into the raised beds.

Honeybee, that's a great idea--to put the leaves on the walkways and let "foot traffic" help to break them down--meanwhile they make a surface to walk upon! How come I never thought of that? ;-)

Honeybee - I can believe that would happen - clumping together and not getting water. I don't really have walkways - I'm going to have to think on that one. Maybe taking a pitchfork and kinda' stirring things up before the ground freezes so that they don't pack down too tight. I'll be sure to keep watch on them. Thanks for mentioning that - I hadn't thought that far.

Dathen

Dathen - If you don't have walkways through your garden bed over winter, maybe you could run your mower over the leaves a few times and then scatter the residue.

I assume you are trying to cover your garden area for the winter, rather than let it sit bare? It's probably too late for you to plant a "cover crop" - I think straw would be better than leaves - it's suprising how leaves can stop rain from penetrating to the soil below.

We have a tree in our front yard (don't know what kind it is) - and it has very thin leaves - something like this would be okay for you to cover your garden bed 'cause they do let the rain penetrate. Our oak tree in the backyard has leaves the size of baby-blankets, so hubby always runs the mower over them first.

Honeybee - I had to laugh at the size of your oak leaves. I know what you mean - we have one of those trees, too. Mostly the leaves on the beds are maple and hickory. At the moment they're curled and lofty. I know that may change and they'll get flattened with rain and snow, so I'll keep my eye on them. They're already down, so I'll leave them this year and try to do a little "stirring" now and then. Thank you for the warning. I'll be out early checking next spring.

More options for handling leaves:
-Place in garbage can and chop with string trimmer (wear safety glasses). Mower works too but not as much fun ;) Put chopped leaves right into beds. Small pieces break down nicely over winter and won't block air or moisture.
-Place in garbage bags. Stab a few air holes with a screw driver to allow air flow. Use to add a brown layer to compost as needed.

Sorry if those are repeats. Just catching up on new messages and forget if these were already mentioned in the thread.

~Sharon

dathen, I don't know enough about any other plants you might leave leaves on (try saying that 5 times fast and not getting confused!) but on irises -

most iris experts would comment that you are in the zone where iris borers are common. they tend to hide in any debris near the irises. so the experts recommend keeping iris beds clean. Now I'm not in that zone of borers, so I haven't bothered to learn enough about their habits to know if, this late in the season, if this is still a problem. But I do know bearded iries supposedly are not that fond of leaf mulch. it stays too wet for them and promotes rot. Mine here can tolerate pine needles, but not leaves, under leaves I lose a lot. Beardless irise adore mulch, though have more problems with borers, I'm told.

Oh Yes!!! I got 32 bags of leaves today and more coming tomorrow. With the ones my trees have dropped and neighbors giving me sacks of leaves I'm Getting a good start on mulch for my yard.

We blow our leaves into big piles then run the mower over them. It is amazing how a big pile goes down to next to nothing. Put them in the compost heap, sprinkle in the flower gardens not too thick, or store for the winter in heavy black plastic bags with a shovel full of old compost (usually has worms in there) and a bucket of water. Tie it shut, and a few days later poke holes in the bags for venting. In the spring I have wonderful stuff to use wherever I need it. I've used the fancy tumbler and the black trash bag works so much better with no effort.

We have been collecting leaves as well this year. Hubby brought home a truckload from my daughters tonight and will be getting more tommorrow from a friend as well as going back to my daughters for another load. I'm thrilled.

I was wondering after using the mower to mulch and bag the leaves, how thick is to thick to law in the beds? I also have plans of protecting my roses and Hydrangeas with the leaves.

cathy4 - I'm toying with the idea of leaving the leaves in plastic bags this winter. I've done this in the past, but never poked holes in the bags. Do they have to be black plastic? Many of mine are in clear plastic.

they can be any color, the heavy ones sold here are black.

as cathy said--When keeping in bags I would suggest from my experience--be sure the leaves are well damp, or ad d water, and fertilizer or greens. I have watched many bags of leaves go in and come out unchanged five months later. Now, that may be OK with you, you could still mulch-mow them in the spring. But I hate thinking of the lost time in getting them broken down.

That's why I don't poke holes at first, dump in that bucket of water and let everything get good and wet, then poke the holes in the bags. The excess water will dry out so you don't get stinky.

I have a question: many of my leaves are still soft and green/yellow when they go in the bag, are they considered a green still? The maples are usually pretty dry, but the red bud leaves are still pliable.

have heard all the leaves are considered "green" even if they are brown. browns are soils and such.

a local radio gardening show pundit recommends the method of leaving the leaves in the plastic bags, wet, with some 10-10-10 fertilizer (no idea how much) in there. leave them piled in a heap (guess that adds warmth). she says in the spring you'll have easy to transport bags of compost ready to dump into whatever garden area you've got. no digging needed. I'm going to try it, but think I'll mow over the leaves first.

carthy4 - thanks for your advice. I pick up leaves from around the neighborhood, so they are in many different color/sized plastic bags. The bags we picked up last week were filled with wet leaves because it had rained.

Most of the leaves will go into the area where we cleaned out some Burmuda grass. Next spring, I'll add coco coir and set sweet potatoe slips.

Ahh, that's the difference in bags. Around here, we can only put out large brown paper bags for pick-up, so I have to rebag any I bring home. The truck that comes around shreds the bag and garden stuff in one big whoosh.

Hi--love all the leaf-lore. I throw mine (some shredded; some not, depending ) into big black plastic bags and toss in a handful of alfalfa meal, which I purchased at Agway in a giant bag. Seems to get things going. I think the idea of letting everything sit for a few days with some water is a good one--before poking the holes in the bag for drainage.

Not to be picky but leaves that have been off the tree awhil are brown. They can still have some green value when they first fall but nitrogen is very 'volatile' and they lose it to the open air.

now see - that's the exact opposite of what some other folks said in this forum! no wonder I stay confused on composting! but eventually compost is made! LOL

Well, in my defense I will stack up my thousands- millions - of tree leaves that I dutifully rake and that never do anything until I add some bona fide greens/ nitrogen source, and moisture. Glad I didn't annoy you, bonjon.

We must get enough grass with our leaves when we mow/chop them for a good mix.

it's good to know so many of y'all mow over them to chop them up, the leaves I mean. I've got a few new composters, and I'm going to fill them all.

I don't like putting the big sticks and such in a pile anymore. too many mice and rabbits and snakes find residence too close to my garden for my comfort zones. I'm going to pile them all up somewhere and see if I can rent a chipper.

Mine have always composted down nicely - but in this region we experience a lot of rain, so the leaves go into the bags wet. We don't know what it's like to have dry crunchy leaves!
I throw in a few worms, poke a couple holes on the bottom & lay the bags "hole-side down, on top of the soil. I did this originally years ago when i had no time to chop & mix with other compostables. I will admit that I was quite surprised the following Spring when I emptied the bags. Is it possible that the type of leaves would make a difference? There are not as many deciduous trees planted here - mostly maples, birch, cherry - there are more Evergreens than deciduous.
Huge windstorm started yesterday and lasted into this afternoon; most of the leaves came down. It also rained non-stop. The leaves will stay where they landed - I am having a splendid visit with Mr. Bronchitis. aaargh.

Katye, the leaves probably didn't matter - you probably had pure worm castings! those worms were so happy! all that food and a hiding place from the birds!

well, I had DH blow leaves onto the drive and then run over them with the mower, then mow over the lawn areas. it is easier than raking and toting them all the way down our slope. He's quite pleased doing it this way. But with all our trees, we'll still have too much for the composters to hold.

does anyone use anything to control ants? bj undid her compost pile before I visited last February, and I saw the scars on her arms from the ant bites! am thinking I want protection!

Hubby and I have spent the last few weekends picking up bag upon bag of leaves. Yesterday hubby declared "enough!" Although I haven't counted them, I'm sure there are over a hundred.

Our neighbor has blown all his leaves up against his fence for us to pick up. He even supplied the bags to put them in. I think it's his way of paying us back for the veggies we share with him and his wife.

unfortunately, here all folks blow their leaves to the curb loose. The city vacuums them up. If I had a vacuum on a truck like theirs....