How to Make Leaves Easier to Compost
Leaf compost makes an excellent soil amendment, benefitting both soil health and grass health while alleviating landfill strain. Making it is simple too – all it requires is a trash bin or metal container, dirt and water!
An ongoing schedule of turning and aeration for your pile can speed up its heat generation and decomposition process, especially if buckeye and sweet chestnut leaves contain harmful toxins to plants.
Shredding
Shredding leaves is one of the quickest and easiest ways to speed up the composting process. Unshredded leaves tend to form mats, which acts as an impermeable barrier against air and water, slowing decomposition. Shred them either with your lawn mower or use a handheld leaf shredder – especially important if you plan to compost directly in your garden rather than through bins!
Leaves don’t require nitrogen for decomposition, but their higher carbon/nitrogen ratio means they take more time than other materials in your compost pile to break down due to lignin in leaves, which resists decomposition. A small addition of lime or kitty litter will help balance lignin levels and accelerate decomposition – as a general guideline add one layer every time you turn over your pile.
Decomposition of leaves into rich leaf compost may take months to several years depending on the size and composition of your pile and leaves used, depending on factors like heat production and microbe activity. To speed this up, shredding or mixing them with other materials in the pile may help produce heat that accelerates this process and accelerate microbial activity.
Producing leaf mold requires some patience, but is an effective way of recycling leaves from your yard. Up to 80% of a tree’s essential minerals and nutrients end up in its leaves; by recycling these leaves you’re helping ensure their return into the soil.
As opposed to regular composting, leaf composting is a cold process in which microbes break down leaves primarily through fungal activity rather than bacteria, and is thus slower. Mulching leaves is recommended so they do not fall on garden beds and suffocate microbes during this stage.
Making leaf compost in early fall when leaves are still damp is ideal, while packing material too tightly restricts oxygen flow and prevents aeration. When creating your pile, mixing in fresh fruit or vegetable scraps helps encourage microbe activity which leads to faster decomposition rates.
Bagging
Bagging leaves is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to handle them, being quick, affordable and producing good mulch in no time at all. Furthermore, this process saves space in your compost pile while helping you create mulch more quickly than ever. However, prior to placing leaves into bags it’s essential that they be shredded first – this will speed up decomposition processes faster while helping reduce odors as well. You could use a sprinkler system or hosepipe hosepipe system for an additional soak before placing them inside bags if necessary.
Bag leaves in autumn when they’re at their prime for decomposition. Working with dry leaves is much simpler. Use plastic garbage bags, metal bins or circular chicken wire containers to contain your shredded leaves.
When bagging leaves, make sure you use an adequate size bag – at least three mils thick for optimal decomposition speed. This will allow heat from the compost pile to penetrate the bag and speed up decomposition process. Keep in mind that adding kitchen scraps and grass clippings as part of your mix can speed things up even more.
Keep an eye on the different kinds of leaves that you have. Some varieties contain higher levels of lignin that will take longer to break down than others, such as oak, ash, cherry, elm and poplar leaves – these should only make up 10-20 percent of your compost pile. Other leaves such as dogwood leaves have lower lignin content that breaks down within approximately one year.
Leaves should be stored either in bags and set in an out-of-the-way corner of your yard or placed into an insulated bin or container insulated with cardboard. If using this method, be sure to poke holes throughout each bag using tools such as a screwdriver, scissors, or garden fork to create entryways for worms, as well as flipping it every few days so as to provide oxygen access.
Adding to a compost pile
Leaf composting is an ideal way to recycle leaves into soil while adding them to it for gardening. Unfortunately, however, the composting process can take its time if your pile is mismanaged – adding nitrogen-rich materials like grass clippings, plant matter, manure and blood and bone meal will speed things up considerably and ensure faster decomposition of leaves. Furthermore, turning and moistening regularly will speed things along and prevent drying out altogether.
Prior to adding leaves to a compost pile, it is crucial that they are shredded first. Whole leaves are difficult to break down and can restrict air and moisture flow within the pile, thus inhibiting its performance as an organic resource. You can use a rotary lawn mower or another garden tool to shred leaves before placing them into your pile; this will make them much simpler to break down while improving its appearance as a compost bin.
A leaf compost pile should be placed in a secure environment to prevent it from being disturbed or buried by animals, exposed directly to sunlight as this will dry it out and inhibit microorganisms that break down leaves, and located away from concrete, asphalt and any hard surfaces which could harm its development.
As autumn unfolds, collecting leaves becomes easier. But keep in mind that most leaves contain high levels of carbon while low nitrogen; to make these valuable resources truly effective they need something with which they can interact – ideal deciduous trees such as oak, ash, maple and birch provide the ideal source of these leaves!
Compost piles made solely out of leaves require more time to breakdown as brown material like leaves requires mixing with green (nitrogen-rich) material in order to be useful. When adding leaves as part of your compost mix, consider grass clippings, fruit scraps, coffee grounds and tea bags, vegetable peelings or food waste as potential additions that will speed the decomposition process along.
Using a string trimmer
String trimmers can be an efficient and time-saving way to keep your yard tidy while simultaneously making compost. The process is fast and straightforward, producing high-nutrient mulch which decomposes slowly in your soil – or can even serve as edging between lawns, flowerbeds and sidewalks or curbs! Using this technique saves both time and money as you avoid having to bag and tip leaves at landfills or pay tipping fees at transfer stations.
Leaf compost can be an invaluable addition to gardens and soil, providing nutrients, minerals, hydration and overall improvement to both. Making leaf compost may take longer if you’re unfamiliar with how it’s done; alternatively it may be possible to do it directly into the soil without needing a bin but this method takes much more patience and perseverance.
Shredding leaves prior to starting a compost pile is key to fast-tracking its creation, not only speeding up decomposition but reducing space requirements as whole leaves tend to mat down and soggily cover each other, blocking oxygen needed for heating up a pile and slowing decomposition processes. Furthermore, as they contain high carbon levels (C:N ratio), whole leaves must be mixed with nitrogen-rich materials like grass clippings or vegetable waste for maximum speedy composting results.
Selecting an ideal location for your compost pile is also crucial, ideally situated in a sunny area to encourage decomposition. Furthermore, make sure it can easily be accessed so you can turn and turn again your pile, providing airflow while simultaneously warming it up faster. Using an outdoor compost tumbler or bin can speed up this process even further.
Try burying the pile, which will speed up and improve decomposition process and quality. Be sure to move regularly in order to prevent overcrowding of pile.
