Leaves are our main source of humus for the garden. We could easily get manure, but we prefer not to as we are on limestone, and apparently this type of rock filters ground water very little. We are afraid we would pollute our well which is very close to the garden. In many agricultural areas in Ontario, because of the spreading of manure, water from some wells is undrinkable, because it is too high in nitrogen. Our well water pass tests with flying colours and to make sure it stays that way, we only use leaves and leaf mold as soil amendment.
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| Semi-composted leaves in autumn |
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| Newly gathered leaves |
We gather the leaves at this time of the year. They actually come from the property of a friend who has lots of trees and lawns and used to pay someone to rake them off. We now rake them for her and use them in our garden. We put them in large paper bags, take them home, and empty them in a ditch which gets filled with water most of the year. We also use some in the compost heap. When there is a lot of green material, we use leaves to produce layers of brown and green material.
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| Alternating "brown" with "green" material for compost making |
We usually spread these leaves in the spring and in the fall. In the spring, after a winter sitting in water under the snow, they have already started to break down and are used as mulch which slowly turns into humus over the summer. Because they are heavy with water, they tend to stay in place where you put them. In the autumn, we spread what is left in the ditch before the new batch arrives. At that point, they have become leaf mold.
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| Leaves that have been in a ditch for a year |
We get at least 60 bags of leaves. It represents a fair bit of work raking these (mostly done by Lorne) but it is well worth it. These leaves are about 75% maple, 15% oak and 10% horse chestnut. We could just pile them up and wait for them to get composted, but we have found that soaking them for several months, speeds up the process. The ditch where we store them was actually dug up to accommodate the overflow from the rill. It now serves two purposes.
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| Leaf mold |
We just leaves the leaves off our trees to rot in the borders but I know of people who go over a pile of leaves with a lawn mower to break them up. It's exciting to have a well - does all your drinking water come from it?
ReplyDeleteYes, in the country here people all have their own wells. Some people (like our neighbours) are unlucky and the well turns out briny. When it is polluted you have to buy your drinking water. There is all the water we need. The well is an 8 inch pipe and goes 140 feet deep. 40 feet would have been enough as the water level has never gone lower than 15 feet from the surface. But well diggers are paid by the foot. We were not here when they dug and by the time we got here to stop them, they had reached 140 feet. Still, it is good to have it deep as we will always have plenty of water.
DeleteIt looks like you pretty much have the compost situation in your garden sewn up. Those are good trees to take leaves from as well. If you lived nearer, I have some more for you. Have a good week.
ReplyDelete60 bags is a lot of leaves! I've been tempted to ask my neighbors to dump all their leaves on my lawn rather than leave them in the street for the town to pick up, but the work seemed daunting so I stick to my own leaves. Your garden must have incredible soil now!
ReplyDeleteThis year is just the 4th year we do it, but it is starting to make a difference.
DeleteWe use lots of leaf mulch too. We're lucky, the weekenders across the street have lots of trees, and have a lawn service which gathers them all up in the fall. I just have them drive across the street, and dump a big pile here for me instead of taking them away. They've already been chopped up with the lawnmowers, so we just spread them directly. They make great mulch for the garlic!
ReplyDeleteSome people have all the luck! Marie's garlic is all in the ground, thank her again.
DeleteWhat a good and effective method you have going there Alain. I like the ditch idea for storage of the leaves over the winter.
ReplyDeleteWe only use leaves as well. In the past we used to rent a very large cargo van and go around the city in early November and collect close to 200 bags. We would then empty the bags in one very large fenced compost area and wait two years before it would break down completely into this wonderful fine leaf mold. We no longer get that many anymore but gather enough on our property to fill up our bins. This works very well for us as we are now in 'maintenance mode' in our garden and no longer need to plant any more.
Leaf mould is the best! I fill a three-cubic-yard wire cage with leaves in the autumn, and the frequent rainfall (not to mention fog) does the rest.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a ditch to store leaves in. I throw some on the compost pile and spread the rest under shrubs. The leaves that blow into the flower beds I just let lie until spring.
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea! We let our leaves lay where they fall. The ones in our lawn are mowed and help fertilize the lawn. But my beds end up covered with them, which I love. You must have great soil. :o)
ReplyDeleteI let my leaves lay where they fall too. I have lots of manure available but mostly use bark mulch which I get from my local tree service company. You're so organized!
ReplyDeleteWe worry about agricultural pesticide runoff polluting our well. Although we haven't had any trouble, last year we invested in a UV/carbon filter for added safety.
Bark mulch would be very good. I am thinking of getting a chipper shredded to produce RCW (ramial chipped wood) which would be the best.
DeleteDue to the recent storm, are streets have been filled with many leaves and it's a shame that not every knows what to do with them because we have quite a bit of concrete around us. Well, more than greenery anyway.
ReplyDeleteAt this time of the year, a bit more paving would not be amiss here! Our driveway can sometime flood. Fortunately, it has not so far this year. I saw pictures from your storm. It was very impressive. Like you, we don't normally have such violent storms but, with global warming, eventually we will all be familiar with them.
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