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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: campanula on November 13, 2003, 18:21:10
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Have just collected my first 10 binbags of leaves - hoping to do another 10 at least. What are the best leaves- I think it has something to do with levels of lignin- so I have avoided chestnuts and beech, having heard that they have high lignin levels. I have mainly got ash,prunus and birch. Any ideas. Also, what sort of amounts will I get from each binbag - for all I know, I could end up with a teacup per bag. Is 20 bags reasonable. Should I try to squeeze 30 in. As I have the most minute garden at home, I have never had room to do leaf mould before so I am overjoyed at this bountiful free harvest and having lottie space to store it. Yippee!
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Campanula, do as many as you can, can never have enough leafmould, wonderful stuff! It does somewhat reduce!! Can't help you on the types of leaves, and have never heard of lignin, someone out there please enlighten me! I just put in mixed lots, wet them, put holes in the bags and wait! ;D DP
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The best leaves are beech and oak (not necessarily in that order) but often take a bit longer to break down. The worst is the London plane tree. Ash prunus and birch are about mid-table. However, all deciduous leaves are valuable - it`s simply that some produce a lot less leafmould than others.
Basically speaking 5cu. feet of leaves will compress down to 3 cu. ft, and will then rot down to 2cu ft. If you have jammed the leaves tightly into the bags (and watered them well) your 10 binbags should produce about 4 of leafmould.
As to how many you should try to squeeze in, do like the bargain supermarkets - cram them in and stack them high. The more the merrier.
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Fantastico! I thought Beech was a no-no so marched past huge piles of absolutely glorious coppery beech leaves. Am off to the graveyard (where I have been collecting) to fill another 20 bags. Whoopeee.
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what now? its dark, you might get arrested hanging round graveyards at night!!
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I have a headlamp! Frequently out gardening at midnight. Will probably wait til morning tho as 'Six Feet Under' is about to come on the telly.
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Campanula.aha, another 6 feet under fan! Thought we were the only ones that watched it!! DP
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6 feet under.... I love it.... I just hope they are making a 4th series!! :)
I'm on a mammoth leaf mould making session this weekend too! Going scavenging for leaves around the local park ;D
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la! the last one for ages. bit grim too. glad Lisa offed as she was the most irritating mother in the universe. What to watch now tho' apart from equally irritating MD on GW (altho Chris B is a honey)
Does anyone else think we are not told all the truth on GW. I swear that the dry garden would have died if not a drop of water had been given - newly planted during our hottest summer for ages. Xeriscaping is really interesting but it is not the easy option - for at least the first season, plants need real careful watering to encourage good roots which can eventually sustain themselves. Also, I watched MD on a digger - quite obviously he did not have a clue as we saw the same three seconds of (someone's) hands on the controls and that was it. ;)
Anyhoo,virtuously bagged another 15 bb's beech leaves - I now have a huge pile which I will hide behind the (as yet unbuilt) shed. Yeeha!
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One of my memories of that programme was seeing Geoffrey Hamilton displaying the contents of a large solid-sided compost bin (this was a mere 2 weeks after he had been insisting that compost bins must have slatted sides, so it obviously wasn`t his). He shovelled out a quantity of what looked like fine peat and said this was how compost should look. The following programme he `had to confess` (his words) that before the programme the entire contents of the bin had been put through a 3/4 inch sieve.
I have quite an interesting list of GW (and other gardening `expert`) howlers which I am always delighted to relate.
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....so my 3 bags of leaves are pretty poor show! tut, must do the rounds and nab others fallen leaves! :-/
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Yo, get to it quicksmart - you will be glowing with virtue (I am).
cheers, suzy
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I love "Six Feet Under", one of my favourite programmes. Would love to see any Gardeners World out-takes. Sure it would be very amusing. I am always tripping over things, spades , forks , and losing my favourite weeding tool in the undergrowth. Sorry not much about leafmould in this posting. though I am collecting it like everyone else. Considered taking my wheelbarrow along the street like Jethro, as ours is tree lined, - the neighbours already think I am eccentric so haven't got any reputation to lose. ;D ;D busy_lizzie
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Lignin is the compound left after actively growing tissue becomes replaced by fresher tissue. It is essentially 100%carbon. Also known as wood or woody tissue.