Hardwood leaves in the garden

[silverking]

I have been told my abundance of leaf material can be shredded and worked in to my food plot. My question is, can I go overboard and add too much? Or do you know any downsides to this? These are raised beds about 20x20 growing cucumbers,squash/zuchini, tomatoes, mustard greens and the soil is N.C.'s finest red clay.

 

[rcrcomputing]

I've 15 4x8 raised beds as well with anywhere from 40% to 80% leaves/hay/compost. By next year, chopped up or not, they'd be good to go if you turned it under now.

Now, keep in mind, brown actually uses up nitrogen as it decomposes. So, add some grass clippings or just nitrogen granules as well. Also add some bone meal, you'll be surprised how much that helps (especially squash and green peppers love it).

Since there is growing season left, you would be well served by mulching with the chopped up leaves (no weeding) till the end of the year, then turn them under.

Next year, send me a pm and tell me the results. I already know, but it'd be nice to get the feedback.

Opps, I almost forgot, my soil was originally sand, but I'd expect your clay to REALLY loosen up if you go heavy with the leaves/compost.

You can click on my link to photos if you want and on the second page are my squash early this year before they got big.

 

[sawdust_maker]

I have been told my abundance of leaf material can be shredded and worked in to my food plot. My question is, can I go overboard and add too much? Or do you know any downsides to this? These are raised beds about 20x20 growing cucumbers,squash/zuchini, tomatoes, mustard greens and the soil is N.C.'s finest red clay.

Yes, you can put too much dead leaf material in there, as it will use up nitrogen that your growing plants will need too.

Better is to make a compost pile. Keep it going every year, so that last years leaves become this years black gold. Turn it over several times during the year. Add (green) grass clippings, vegetable food waste, even shredded paper. (I've even put a complete dead carp into the bottom of my pile several times, although too much fat and protein is generally not a good thing. I've generally built a rather large compost pile though, so that was apparently not a problem.) Add water as necessary. I've even heard of people adding urine to their pile. It is nitrogen after all. The bugs will love it.

Once the compost is turned into that rich black gold, you can put as much of it into the garden as you wish.

John

 

[DocHeb]

I just shred the leaves and rototill them into the soil in the fall. Just make sure the clay is pretty dry or you will make nice little rock-hard clay-balls. IMHO, the concept of nitrogen leaching is theoretical and is easily balanced by a bit of 12-12-12 in the bottom of the trench before planting seeds or transplants. Think about forests - if the decomposing leaves took all the nitrogen, how did the tree have nitrogen to grow the leaves?

There is also a gardening theory of minimal soil disruption - the concept is that rototilling destroys the structure of the soil (the worms, aerobic bacteria near the surface, etc.) These folk would suggest that you just layer the shredded leaves on top of the clay, and let the worms come up to eat what they want and then deposit their droppings deeper in the soil. I have so much clay that this method would produce good soil for my grandkids rather than me, but it probably works. Again a reference to forests and their layer of leaves on the ground.

 

[sawdust_maker]

I just shred the leaves and rototill them into the soil in the fall. Just make sure the clay is pretty dry or you will make nice little rock-hard clay-balls. IMHO, the concept of nitrogen leaching is theoretical and is easily balanced by a bit of 12-12-12 in the bottom of the trench before planting seeds or transplants. Think about forests - if the decomposing leaves took all the nitrogen, how did the tree have nitrogen to grow the leaves?

Ah, but decomposing leaves lie on the surface of the ground, not underground where the roots of the trees are. Surface leaves take nitrogen from the air as the bugs break them down.

If you bury the leaves in large quantities and then plant immediately after, they now compete with the roots of the plant that you will try to grow. Then fertilizer is necessary merely to replace what the leaves will suck up.

If you till the leaves in 6 months before, this is not a problem. The leaves have sufficiently decomposed by the next spring.

Tilling can do both good and bad things to the soil.

John

 

[silverking]

My plan is to shred and till in a large amount of leaves as they become availible this fall and then shred another large amount and just cover the garden with them until spring then till again before I plant. As far as nitrogen is concerned a little 31-0-0 should solve all these concerns no?

I have the hard clay soil and have tilled in some sand and as much potting mix as I could afford and cash being the key here I have immense amounts of free leaf material so I am using it to create a medium that is not so clay like on the cheap, that is my goal if I have to wait another season to have it all be broke down thats ok as long as it works. I understand about having a compost pile and will start one of those as well but to break up the clay I need to start as quickly as possible and this seems to be what most recommended. I should add that I have moved a few miles up the road and need to update my profile thats why I am starting things anew. As far as the composting can I just pile leaves and let them sit for a long period? my access to green clippings or otherwise is very limited.

 

[jimmyj]

I don't know if you are still farming at the new place but do you have waste animal bedding such as straw or other manure? We mix leaves, waste hay, bedding etc all together and I stir the pile up with the FEL every month. Man o man do we get good composted manure and it really really helps our sandy soil.

Maple leaves apparently have phenols or something like that in them and should be best composted vs direct tilling. I think if you turn some in but don't overdo it you would be OK. For huge volumes I'd compost them and yes, turn the pile if you can.

Do you have a silverking tractor by chance?

 

[silverking]

I don't know if you are still farming at the new place but do you have waste animal bedding such as straw or other manure? We mix leaves, waste hay, bedding etc all together and I stir the pile up with the FEL every month. Man o man do we get good composted manure and it really really helps our sandy soil.

Maple leaves apparently have phenols or something like that in them and should be best composted vs direct tilling. I think if you turn some in but don't overdo it you would be OK. For huge volumes I'd compost them and yes, turn the pile if you can.

Do you have a silverking tractor by chance?

I have a very small amount of straw and chicken droppings in it which I plan on harvesting.

Most of my leaf material will be Oak and Poplar.

No I have one of the fruit colored tractors, Kubota

 

[sawdust_maker]

My plan is to shred and till in a large amount of leaves as they become availible this fall and then shred another large amount and just cover the garden with them until spring then till again before I plant. As far as nitrogen is concerned a little 31-0-0 should solve all these concerns no?

I have the hard clay soil and have tilled in some sand and as much potting mix as I could afford and cash being the key here I have immense amounts of free leaf material so I am using it to create a medium that is not so clay like on the cheap, that is my goal if I have to wait another season to have it all be broke down thats ok as long as it works. I understand about having a compost pile and will start one of those as well but to break up the clay I need to start as quickly as possible and this seems to be what most recommended. I should add that I have moved a few miles up the road and need to update my profile thats why I am starting things anew. As far as the composting can I just pile leaves and let them sit for a long period? my access to green clippings or otherwise is very limited.

The shred and till in the fall plan will work fine.
The bugs and worms will do their work by spring.
And the organic material will indeed improve
the clay soil very nicely.

In terms of just piling leaves on the ground, they
will usually break down with time if left alone. A
problem is this will take relatively long. Turning
then over a couple of times at least does wonders
for how quickly they decompose, even if you do
not add any green material.

John

 

[Taylortractornut]

Leaves also build up the acidity in the soil I put all the leaves las year in a stip in the garden where tomatoes were to be and tilled them in with the tractor. Ive had the best tomatoes this year then ever before. At work we let the city dump leaves I got about 100 cubic yards of leaves and would my skid steer of dad Kubota and turn them every 2 days. Took about an hour to do this thouroghly. and every once i na while i would use the D5 to roughly turn the whole pile. They broke down within 6 months. Ive used them in building my soil and top dressing mulch to. That garden spot is pure clay fro minside a hill where the soil was robbed to level the yard 40 years ago.