instant leaf mould

[bridbod]

If I put fallen tree leaves in an empty water butt and shred em with an electric strimmer I end up with instant leafmould ... or is life never that easy ? it certainly beats waiting a year or two  ;D  comments most welcome

[bridbod]

[Duke Ellington]

Nope......even shredded leaves take time but shredding them speeds up the process. It will still take a year at the least.

Duke :)

[pumkinlover]

If I put fallen tree leaves in an empty water butt and shred em with an electric strimmer I end up with instant leafmould ... or is life never that easy ? it certainly beats waiting a year or two  ;D  comments most welcome

Had to read that twice as I came out in a cold sweat when I read "water butt" and "electric strimmer"  in the same sentance.
Reasured by the empty bit.!

[lincsyokel2]

If I put fallen tree leaves in an empty water butt and shred em with an electric strimmer I end up with instant leafmould ... or is life never that easy ? it certainly beats waiting a year or two  ;D  comments most welcome

Had to read that twice as I came out in a cold sweat when I read "water butt" and "electric strimmer"  in the same sentance.
Reasured by the empty bit.!

thats what outboard motors are for.

[Kleftiwallah]

Ditto pumpkinlover ! ! !    Cheers,    Tony.

[Digeroo]

I am a very impatient sort.  I put leaves into compost dalek for the winter and then come may I want the dalek.  So what to I do with partly rotten leaves, so I simply bury them and planted beans on top.  Had a good crop of beans and come autumn I dug through and the leaves had more or less disappeared and there were loads of worms.  Also used the partly rotted leaves as a mulch, by the end of the summer they had disappeared too even though I had put straw on top to stop them drying out and blowing away.   Having lots of leaves around seems to please the worms.

Leaves need fungus to decompose not sure that instant comes into it.