Topic: leylandii branches -mulch?

[rdak]

Yesterday I felled a 40 foot leylandii and have a fair few branches left over! The old dry stuff goes up in flames a treat, but think I would seriously annoy my neighbours if I burn the fresh stuff, as it sends up thick white smoke and makes a loud crackling noise when doing so.
so....rather than take this stuff to the tip, and seeing as I don't own a shredder, I wondered whether I could use this as a mulch by laying the branches over a veg bed? I think they are quite acidic, so bearing that in mind...a good mulch? or any down sides?

[tim]

Don't know - instinct says 'no' - but I look forward to the answer - we have plenty of prunings each year, from two 30' hedges. = Tim

[Garden Manager]

Probably not good for brassicas or legumes, but might be Ok for potatoes or in the fruit patch around raspberries, since they like things on the acid side.

[Hugh_Jones]

I wouldn`t use fresh coniferous foliage as a mulch for anything other than calcifuges such as rhododendrons, and even then I would prefer to see it partly composted first. There are two main problems :-
(a) As you suspect, it is highly acidic - composted it usually produces a pH reading of 5 or lower, and
(b) It will take 3 years or more to break down properly (even in the soil), so what are you going to do with all the fine foliage that drops off the branches by the time you want to remove the mulch? You won`t be able to rake it off, and you don`t want to dig it in.

Properly composted it makes an excellent, if highly acidic, soil conditioner, but you really need to shred it first and compost it separately, and even then you would need it to use it with extreme care in the vegetable plot and with one eye on the pH meter.

[Ceri]

if you have permanent, but muddy paths around veg beds, could you use it has path-cover to suppress weeds and keep the mudbath at bay - or would the acidity leach sideways?

[gillianbc]

I have been using leylandii both 'raw' as a mulch for paths/under shrubs and shredded in the compost bin for about 5yrs.  I find it makes the absolutley the best, most friable compost and I use it on everything - not just acid lovers.  I would say go ahead.