Take advantage of fallen leaves, to make improvements to your
garden soil. Raking leaves and adding them to your garden to compost over the
winter months will result in a much improved garden soil next spring. Leaves
don’t contain a lot of nutrients, but composting them will produce leaf mold which will greatly improve the structure of your garden
soil. Leaf mold is a dark, spongy material that results from microorganisms
breaking down the leaf. It’s the stuff you find at the bottom of a pile of
leaves that have piled up on the lawn or along the street curb.
As soon as
leaves begin to fall and pile up, the process of decomposing begins. You can
take advantage of this natural cycle by making a pile of leaves in a corner of
your garden or simply digging them into your garden soil. Leaves decompose cold. The process doesn’t
require heat to work.
Smaller pieces will break down faster, so put the catcher
bag on the mower and mow the lawn.
You can put the leaves, chopped or not, directly into the garden soil or start with a pile of leaves in a corner of your garden bed.
Add some Nitrogen such as Cottonseed Meal and water thoroughly. Turn the leaves once or twice during the
winter.
By spring you should have rich leaf mold to add to your garden. If all
of the leaves aren’t completely broken down by spring, leave them in the
garden. The composting process will continue through the summer months. By fall
you’ll be ready to start the cycle again. Your garden soil needs to be
continuously improved and making leaf mold is an easy to accomplish this.
Great post!
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