[whistler]

Hi All,
I have a newly planted herbaceous bed which is now covered in about 6" of oak leaves. I believe that oak leaves are very acid? The soil in that bed was 6.5 when I planted.
Please could you tell me, should  I leave them there to mulch the plants or remove them to the compost bins?

Thanks.

[Trillium]

Oak leaves are the slowest to decompose. You're better off to remove them and if possible shred them before putting them into a separate compost bin where they can take their time, up to 3 yrs if shredded, longer if left whole. Once they're mostly composted you can spread them back on the beds with a bit of lime to neutralize.

[Yorkie]

I would make leaf mould from them and then you can use them as a mulch if you wish.

Don't put them onto the compost bin, as they take longer to rot down than regular compost ingredients.

RHS leaf mould page is here

[whistler]

Thank you!