Since our yard is surrounded on all four sides by trees, we get a THICK carpet of leaves every fall. We usually leave them alone until spring. By then, the leaves have flattened into a true carpet (studded with thousands of sweetgum balls) that requires a whole lot of work to remove if we want grass on the lawn. Most of the time we dump the stuff in the gully behind the yard. There's no telling what creatures might live in that nice, warm hut.
We bought a leaf grinder last year and used it this spring. The shredded leaves - several tractor-bucket loads - went to the garden to help fill up the low spot, along with several loads of wood chips. I wondered if putting all that un-decomposed material into the soil would screw up the soil pH, so this fall I had the soil tested. It is VERY HIGH in phosphorus and HIGH in potassium. It needs a big load of nitrogen. It does NOT need any more shredded leaves and sticks. It needs compost.
The compost bin is already full to the top with shredded and unshredded leaves, but still we have all these leaves covering the yard. "Experts" are saying to leave the leaves for the bees and worms and birds and such, but I want them gone from the "lawn" part of our yard. I raked for about an hour yesterday, and when I looked at all the piles, wondering how I should dispose of them, I thought, "Screw it," and mowed over them with the riding lawnmower. I mowed over the whole yard, multiple times, except for a large area in the "way back" part, where the birds and bees can party to their hearts' content.
The compost pile needs work. I threw a little nitrogen fertilizer in it to get it cooking, but it probably needs more. It rained during the night, which packed down the leaves a little bit and should help the fertilizer melt. The pile needs green material, so I keep putting food scraps in it, which the animals probably eat before the next sunrise.
By the time I get this composting thing figured out, I'll probably be too old to garden.
No comments:
Post a Comment