Allotments 4 All

I have just uncovered a  3/4 full (dalek type compost bin) of the most gorgeous crumbling leaf mould, 2 years old.  Looks good enough to eat.  What I need to know is what is best to use it for.  I have plenty of home made compost to improve borders etc, so I feel this should be thought about before it gets dumped on the borders.  Any suggestions oh wise ones  ;)  ;D

I would personally make a bed on your allotment, take all weeds out and put your leaf mold on that bed and tilth it in. Then I would use the bed for growing carrots and beetroon next year! Carrots and beetroot do not like manure. But they love leaf mold :)

The_Snail

I read in one of the gardening mags that leaf mould is good on carrots.  Ooh I found it!  
Apparently you put the leaf mould in the drills at sowing time to get the seedlings off to a good start (Kitchen Garden  March)  

Also for inclusion in  your own potting mix if you want to make some with the stuff out your compost bin  :)

Also for mixing with garden soil when planting shrubs.

Isn't that more acidic? If so - use on spuds, ericacious plants etc. But not brassicas.

Thanks for your answers but I forgot to add that I dint have my allotment any longer  :'(  Just wanted to know if I can use it in pots, containers etc or is it only of any use as a soil improver.  I know,,, should have been more specific.

You could use it in container pots. Just mix it with the compost.

The_Snail

I willl also be using mine to top dress some of my pots.  Precious stuff, leaf mould.   :)

G xx

It really goes down to almost nothing!  I had a bin full end of last Autumn and it's only about 2" high now.  Concentrated loveliness  ;D  I get tonnes of leaves at home and from next door so it all goes into my leaf mould bin.  I have to say though I think I got quicker results putting in to black bags  :)

Good tip, Wardy!!
Am eyeing up local trees and ready for dawn raids before the dog walkers are about!! ;)

Will be putting all the lovely stuff in bags to give myself the best chance!!

;D ;D ;D ;D

Before I had house with big trees used to go to local stately home and nick theirs.  I used to walk dog and take carrier bag to fill with lovely leaves from under their trees before returning home  :)  No-one ever stopped me but I would have said I was fulfilling a public service  ;D

They taught us at college that leaf mould was not very nutrient rich, so was best used as part of a seed compost.

It doesn't have a lot of nutrients, but it does the soil a load of good having all that extra humus.

It is an EXCERLENT soil enricher. It adds humus which retains water and nutrients in the soil :)

The_Snail

There was a pile of half-gone leaves from last year against my back wall. The landlord asked me to remove them from the wall (it's listing AND listed), so I bagged them, took them over to the plot, and mulched my January King cabbages with a thick layer. Waiting to see if this mulch attracts nesting slugs, furs up the cabbages, or whether the worms will obediently drag them down into the soil by Spring ... someone tell me quick if I have made a boo boo! ;D

This will work fine, but don't pile it on too thick. Half an inch will do, too much and it might start your cabbages rotting.

Thank you! will skim off a cm or so tomorrow :P

If ut's only a cm don't worry, it's not an exact science. But don't put it on 3 inches thick unless it's over your spuds.

Aha! so the spuds enjoy a leafmould duvet? Thank you R, will remember that for Spring! ;D

Put more like six nches on spuds if you're growing them on the flat. It's easy to put too little, then the worms eat it all, and all the potatoes just underneath it turn green.

Six inches eh, I'll get sweeping! Will fresh leaf sweepings be OK for spuds or should I be patient and bag the leaves this year? ::)

I've used the previous autumn's leaves with no problems. They tip vast quantities by the gate and it's just a matter of barrowing them round.

thank you for the tips!
went to take a photo of the cabbages in their mulch yesterday, and here they are ;)

(http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2872/plotsep059cabbage2mt.th.jpg) (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plotsep059cabbage2mt.jpg)

BINGO

Just spoken to the groundsmen who look after the business park i work at.

The business park has open spaces and lots of trees :-)

They happen to dump the leaves down the bottom of our car park behind some trees.

And they start collecting next week.

They have given permission for us to help ourselves and might even be able to get a truck load to my allotment :-)

So i am arranging a group of people will allotments next friday to go out and fill as many black sacks as we can and get them in the car!

This means i only have to leave the bags in the car over night before going to the allotment saturday and that leave me this weekend to make a bin to put it all in :-)

Don't mess about with black bags, stop at any building site and cadge one of their big sandbags, you can line your boot with it and load loads of leaves. The bags are bio-degradable so you can put your leaves in them for a year and they will all be ready for use next autumn.It even saves making a container for them.

i have tried to get the big bags, but the builders on our site slice the bottom open when there lifted by JCBs so the contets spills out :-(

can I be cheeky and ask a leaf mould question on this thread please?  We seeem to have loads of sycamore seeds mixed in with the leaves on the roads near us - would these rot doen with the leaves or will they start to sprout when I sue the leaf mould?!

hope they rot as we've got loads as well  :o

maybe I'll brave the strange looks and twitching curtains from the neighbours then!

we got loads from asda,asked permission first, no dog mess! used our old compost bags :)

Got a park next to my allotment, so Saturday I have two jumbo back bags to fill, I also know the park keeper so have asked him to throw any bags he has my way. ::).       


                     May the corn be with you.

our leaf bin's full to overflowing, and there's just soooo many leaves out there, need more space, we're waiting for the leaves to settle so we can top up ???

Never used leafmould before. I have learnt leads here. Will use them on my carrotts and spuds next yr. At my work we have probably enough leaves to fill over 500 black bags. I best make a small contribution to their disappearance.... ;)

The thing is that the leaves will redguce in mass so if the leaf bin is overflowing at the moment its not a problem. Collect more in sacks and then top the leaf bin as they start to break down :-)

Sycamore seeds will germinate. If you're piling the stuff cover it to kill them. If you're spreading it, just pull them out as they come up. It's nothing to worry about.

5 more bags of lovely leaves, ray put them in old compost bags, put holes in the sides and we'll leave them behind the shed :D

Just come back from the lottie filled two jumbo and two dustbin black bags from the park next door, still loads more blowing about.

                   May the corn be with you.

I remember collecting leafmould from a mixed woodland when I had a greenhouse in the 70's, then we moved... went back five years later to see trees pushing through the roof!
;D

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo_now/veg_gard_now.php

This is a site where three beds have been used organically for several years, but only one has had an annual dose of leafmould. It shows that leeks, in this case, are MUCH bigger in the leafmould bed.  I use leaf mould anyway, but will be actively collecting extra from now on to mulch over winter, especially in my brand new plot.

thank you artichoke, great information! :D
hi ho hi ho it's off with a baggie I go ;)