Rotting Leaves?

[BMWMK2]

What Can I Use Quicken The Rotting Of A Big Pile Of Leaves In My Backyard? Should I Use Lime?

[prashster]

Lime won't do anything.

1. Shred the leaves finely.
2. Add kitchen scraps (no grains, no dairy, no eggs, no meat). Only tea/coffee/vegetables.
3. Add heat (cover it with a tarp)
4. Keep turning the pile.

You won't get too much breakdown in the colder weather, but next spring it'll break down fairly quickly (couple of weeks)

[SteveW]

Don't forget to keep it moist, too. Water + oxygen (from very frequent turning) will do the most good.

Also, add several shovelfuls of soil from your garden - the microorganisms form the soil will help decompose the leaves.

[Cookie]

I throw them in my neighbors yard, :D

[master plumber mark]

I have 5 large sycamores, 3 large cottonwoods,
up to 25 ash trees.....and an assorted number
of other trees in my forrest at my house.......

rakeing them all up is not an option


So I grind them up into a very small fine pulp
with my trusty snapper rideing lawnmower
and mulching blade......

usually by the time I am through with my second beer
they are shredded and ground up level that does best.

and then they seem to just melt away and
become the spring fertilizer for the
ecosystem in the grass...

[SteveW]

I have a mulching walk-behind Toro mower and do the same. The only time and reason I collect leaves is to make compost that I can use in the vegetable garden the next year.

[Cookie]

Ah, you're a bunch of sissies, throw em in your neighbor's yard. :D

[Randyj]

Cookie... you trying to cover up your sins now... Hey.. go to your bait shop and get a couple of boxes of worms.. they'll help aereate and do all kinds of good things to help them rot. Maybe try spraying with buttermilk????(the leaves, not the worms)

[Cass]

I have 5 large sycamores, 3 large cottonwoods,
up to 25 ash trees.....and an assorted number
of other trees in my forrest at my house.......

rakeing them all up is not an option


So I grind them up into a very small fine pulp
with my trusty snapper rideing lawnmower
and mulching blade......

usually by the time I am through with my second beer
they are shredded and ground up level that does best.

and then they seem to just melt away and
become the spring fertilizer for the
ecosystem in the grass...



Thats the way to take care of leaves

[Randyj]

Mark... 10-4 on that good buddy!

[Cookie]

I like worms. Randi. We had raised worms when the boys were little.
I would rather throw the leaves over my neighbors yard. It is more fun. (she is divorced and my drinking buddy) we compare wines. And, fiddler players.

[Randyj]

I went and bought a couple of boxes of worms for my worm bed (an old bath tub) and the damn armadillos ate em up... you wine-0

[Randyj]

Hmmm....note the mispelling of my name.. a lady wanted to name a horse after me and that's the way she was going to spell it....

[Cookie]

What's in a name anyways? lol.

[Cookie]

We had this horracious storm roll through here. I have been without power since early afternoon. But, the good thing is, the winds which were clocked at I think 60 miles an hour, blew all my leaves across the road onto yet, another neighbors property. God, I couldn't stand it, I was laughing so hard at the door, I thought I was going to die. They just uppped and left my yard all at once. Almost like on command.

I just got my power back on. I wrote out Xmas cards, by candlelight. As soon as the power came back on,I tossed the cards, ran to the coffee maker, plugged my cell phone battery in, threw my dinner into the microwave, turned on all the lights, ran the garbage disposal, and turned up the heat. I did this all in a matter of minutes. I think I was jonesing for technology.

[Randyj]

Hmmm... went to bed at midnight... 72 degrees... woke up at 5 a.m. 32 degrees and the wind was howling... blew all of our leaves into the lake...It got me p.o.'ed... if the leaves will stay there a really long time I won't have to cut grass but one time next year... now that they're all gone I'll probably have to cut grass at least twice.

[Cookie]

I can ship you some leaves from downback if you want.

[Randyj]

I hate to put you to that much trouble...but I will let you come dig up my yard and replace all the grass with lanscape fabric, cover with mulch, and put in some maintenance free paths ... maybe edge with monkey grass and throw in a few low growing maintenance free plants/junipers or other ground cover. We got rid of the pines because of all the limbs they dropped...now I'm ready to get rid of the grass that has resulted.

[Cookie]

I am a much better supervisor.

[Randyj]

Aw shucks... can't have two supervisors... gotta have someone keeping the coffee warm and the beer cold!