Leaf mulch - why not just do the lot?

[Miichael]

My allotment has VERY clay heavy soil, I've been adding compost for a couple of years and it seems to be slowly improving it. It's a council allotment and by the car parking they pile up leaves and wood chippings. I put in some dwarf apple trees this year, and the growing instructions suggested a leaf mulch around the trees to help suppress weeds. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought if this before, but would there be a downside to doing all my beds with leaf mulch? There is enough of it, and I presume as it rots down (slow with leaves I know) it will help improve the soil. Perhaps it would take too much nitrogen out of the soil?

Any thoughts appreciated. Pros and cons, etc.

Thanks!

[Martin H]

I'd go for it.

The cons I can think of are:
- it's quite a lot of work for you barrowing and spreading the stuff around;
- seed sowing is trickier because you need to push the mulch back to reveal bare soil to sow into;
- there's a risk that slugs and other pests will hide in the mulch and pounce on your crops when nobody is looking.

But on the plus side:
- mulching will greatly improve your soil structure and fertility over time;
- no need to worry about nitrogen depletion as long as you leave the raw mulch on top and don't dig it in;
- you'll save a lot of time weeding;
- the blackbirds and robins will love you and will spend many happy hours rummaging among the mulch looking for invertebrates.

On our site the free chippings etc are so popular that they usually disappear before I get there.

[Bigmallly]

Instead of incorporating the leaves into your beds, mulch around the plants after planting. that way you will be mulching whilst at the same time allowing the leaves to rot down without too much nitrogen depletion.

[ecudc]

Lucky you! Is it well shredded and / or quite rotted down is it just leaves? If it's just whole leaves then I'd probably pop it to one side and allow to rot down for 6months or so until it becomes that lovely brown crumbly mulch then spread generously around plants or on the surface in Autumn and let the worms incorporate it for you.

[Mr Bones]

Last autumn I mulched part of this years potato bed with leaves. When the spuds were planted in March the soil underneath was lovely and full of worms. Since planting I've earthed up with more leaves.

[bario1]

I've mulched pretty much my whole plot with leaves over the last four years, it works wonders on clay soil. The only thing stopping me mulching even more is time and energy, it takes a lot to cover the whole plot. If you have unlimited leaves at your disposal, it's worth filling a pallet compost bin with them too to rot down into leafmould - I lined my bin with chicken wire to keep it neat.

[Jay-ell]

Due to their location a couple of my beds auto mulch with cherry blossom in the spring and leaves in the autumn.

[burnie]

I'm going to make a chicken wire pen to make some leaf mould for next year, my Dad used to swear by it, never made it before, though I have gathered some from woodland in the past.

[Bigmallly]

Due to their location a couple of my beds auto mulch with cherry blossom in the spring and leaves in the autumn.

I wouldn't dream of putting shoe polish on my beds...................

[fiveaday]

I'm going to make a chicken wire pen to make some leaf mould for next year, my Dad used to swear by it, never made it before, though I have gathered some from woodland in the past.

A chicken wire bin sounds like a great idea. I wanted to get something prepared for the autumn as the golf course gets covered later in the year and I thought that as I spend enough time amongst the trees I might as well fill my bag up whilst I'm there :-D

[Jay-ell]

Let me see, for this shot I think I'll use a lawn rake

[fiveaday]

Let me see, for this shot I think I'll use a lawn rake

Or alternatively the tree wood

[DWSmith]

Sums it up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9OhxKlrWwc