[davethespread]

hi again,can oak leaves be rotted down to use in my plot.i was going to round them up and put them in a debris netting enclosure with some soil, and maybe manure to dig in next autumn,does this sound right?

[Aunt Sally]

That's good Dave.  Four stakes in the corners and netting around them.  Fill with leaves and keep topping them up as the level goes down.  Should give you some nice soil conditioner in about a year's time

[davethespread]

thanks aunty

[Aunt Sally]

Don't use hores chesnut leaves though, they take AAAGES to rot down.  Burn them and use the ash.

[Spana]

I think oak leaves take a bit longer.  I use mine after two years but by then its the most wonderful stuff. After one year you can still see leaf shapes.

[Aunt Sally]

Yes, the longer you can leave them the better.

[tode]

I try to collect as much as I can with the mower, using a pretty low cut. That I get quite a bit of grass with em, which I find helps them to break down faster  (wet green grass is best, but this year it's more like short hay    )

[Aunt Sally]

It also chops the leaves up too tode.  Good idea !

[tode]

Bit off subject, maybe, but this year I've tried throwing all the (veg) rubbish on the lawn just before I mow.  Works quite well.    :happy:

[davethespread]

its good to ramble tode

[peapod]

its good to ramble tode

Hes an expert  Kidding Tode!

[pushrod]

In Tode mode  I always pick up the privot hedge cuttings on the street with the lawn mower. Made the neighbours laugh to see me mowing the pavement but it is quick, it works and it really makes them rot down quicker 

[tode]

Ah,  that must be why the neighbours laugh when they see me gardening . . . 

Mr Rambles

[Yabba]

No, it's the bunny slippers and pink nightgown that makes them giggle :|

¥

[Stablechooks]

Go for a really big pile of leaves, it will soon compress down and rot. A few grass cuttings would be fine but generally keep the leaves together. I had loads last year and am now top dressing all my beds with a 6" layer of leaf mould for the worms to pull in.

Back breaking but worth it.