Compost leaves with Powdery Mildew?

I am lucky (yeah right) enough to have access to loads of Magnolia leaves - they drop all over my lawn from my neighbours enormous tree. Grrrrr. After reading some of the posts here I've discovered just how to get the buggers to break down in the compost pile. Recently though, they look like they've got a bad dose of powdery mildew. Is it OK to compost leaves with PM or would I be better off throwing them in the green recycling bin and leaving them to the city?

This message was edited Aug 30, 2006 8:25 AM

I would compost them. Your compost will develop a microherd that likes to eat powdery mildew - which then would be good microbes to put in your garden.

Great thanks Joe. I love the word 'microherd'. It conjours up all kinds of things in my imagination :-)