Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: DIGGER on September 25, 2008, 13:19
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This morning we have had delivered to the allotment a load of leaves with a note saying help yourself.
So I have.
I was in the process of shovelling into black plastic bags and was going to leave until next year.
Why dont you dig them straight in was the retort from fellow plot holders , I dont know I thought it took two years to decompose [is that the right word?] I replied.
Any clever clogs on here able to advise. :oops:
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I ain't no clever clogs but thats what some of the old boys do on our plots and the soils lovely, we are lucky as the council dump the leaves for us and chippings
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Not wanting to go off the topic, but we get loads of chippings delivered free, can i use these for anything???
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Paths is probably the best bet, also as a water saving mulch.
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There was two reasons for not digging straight in and one of those is stuck somewhere swishing around with the beer, the other I was lead to believe is they use a lot of nitrogen to breakdown unless you can shred them very finely, leaf mould is better as a bulk product to be applied to the beds you want it in. If ever the second reason pops up I will let you know.
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Think I will hold fire a bit on this one.
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The nitrogen problem would only be a problem on land that's being grown on, if it's laying fallow over the winter I don't think it will be a problem to be honest.
After reading an article in an old GYO I think it's probably better to spread over the top after winter digging and let the worms do their stuff.
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so whats the best thing to do open a trench and dig in all the leaves or make leaf mould in a seperate bin similar to a compost bin ?
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Leaf mould is supposed to be brilliant for seeds etc make it in a chicken wire bin so the elements get to it.
According to an article in GYO laying on the top's a good method as it limits the nitrogen robbery.
I've made my bean trenches for next year already and filled them with grass cuttings when the leaves come it will get a dose of that too :D
Thing with gardening is there's nearly always a different angle on things so it's sometime a matter of what works for you.
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Is it best for the leaves to be dry or wet ?does it make a difference ?
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Is it best for the leaves to be dry or wet ?does it make a difference ?
Can't see it will make much difference to be honest if they are dry they may blow around a little but will soon get wet over winter.
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I read/heard/made up somewhere that using leaves can turn your soil acidic. is there any truth in this?
Personally, I'm looking forward to the leaves falling 'cos me, some black bin bags and my pick up truck will be kerb crawling to keep the streets clean!!!
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I know conifer leaves can, but not sure about the rest. :?
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you can dig them straight in or let them stay in bags , the bags will rot down to lovelt seed compost
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There was two reasons for not digging straight in and one of those is stuck somewhere swishing around with the beer,
If beer says it is wrong I think it must be so.
Although leaves do seem to just rot down on the surface anyway don't they.
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how long does it take ?
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dont wish to put a spanner in the works but
in the private life of plants David Attenborough said that rotting leaves release nitrogen into the soil not use it to brake down the leaves
as fungi do this
i use leaves and get great growth in my plants :?
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I put leaves on as a top dressing but they got blown all over the place so now they rot down in a chicken wire bin where they take a season or more to rot down. I used some yesterday where I was planting shallots and garlic. You start out with a full bin, about four feet deep and it slumps to virtually inches :D I sometimes put it through a rotary sieve when I'm mixing it with soil for sowing. It's good for using with carrots amongst other things
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Ummm I think I might leave them a year , then again I might dig them in.
Then again I might just think about it a bit longer.
Ummm If I dont do anything I will have to get rid of them.
Right no time today,football tomorrow, going out Sunday. I will decide on Monday.
There i have made a decision... :lol:
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:D
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Because of the decisions surrounding the Bradford and Bingley , I have decided to delay the decision regarding the leaves to a later date.
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Nut case :D
I'm using my year old leaves up at the moment. The lumpy soil I was putting through my rotary sieve was too wet so I added some dry year old leaves to see if it would help. It did, and I got a lovely mixture for planting my onion sets in. I needed some fine soil so put over my onions as I only had right clumpy stuff from where I'd unearthed the spuds :D
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Ummm I think I might leave them a year , then again I might dig them in.
Then again I might just think about it a bit longer.
Ummm If I dont do anything I will have to get rid of them.
Right no time today,football tomorrow, going out Sunday. I will decide on Monday.
There i have made a decision... :lol:
why don't you do half and half, dig half in and save the other half, then you can decide which you prefer
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I think I will do half and half. Dig half in and save the other half. Then I can decide whats best.
HEY HEY HEY :wink:
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I read/heard/made up somewhere
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Digger you are a laugh, not :twisted:. Any ways to speed the process up?
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[/QUOTE]how long does it take ?
I've heard that you should leave them for a year, I saved 2 bin bags full last year and they rotted down nicely until June when OH's son had a "tidy up" and chucked them :evil:
So. I'll be starting all over again this year :roll: .
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Doh :roll:
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Sorry to rake up a really old thread but I thought I should report back.
Today I took six bags of leaves to the allotment tipped them out dug them in. They covered such a small area. Just goes to show that I made a mountain out of a molehill.
Wont bother with that again
I really am not having a good day. Still night out with the old boys tonight.