Mulching - Such a Thing As Too Many Leaves?

[pdxwindjammer]

I have a couple of community garden plots and usually just let them go over the winter and when spring comes, it is completely covered in weeds. After a few years of pulling them all up (I don't till) I am really taking care to make sure that doesn't happen again.

I have a lot of leaves available to me so here is what I am doing:

1. Liberally sprinkling glacier rock dust on the soil (first time using this for remineralizing).
2. Covering with a thin layer of chicken poop
3. Covering all of that with a big, thick layer of leaves.

We are about to get some rain so I hope to have the entire plot covered by the end of the day tomorrow so that the rain will keep the leaves in place.

I am wondering if there is such a thing as too many leaves? I want to pile them thick enough so that weeds don't grow. We have fairly mild winters so the leaves will rarely be frozen so I think they will break down fairly well by the time spring time comes around. I think the worms will be happy with all of this, too.

Any thoughts on this are welcome and appreciated!

Hi- Your Fish Pepper seeds will go out tomorrow. As for the leaves, I don't think you can use too many, but if you don't till, what will you do at planting time? I have already collected many leaves and chopped them with my lawnmower, then mixed in with the soil, along with lots of Starbuck's coffee grounds. They will work all winter then get mixed lightly when I plant.

[Got Worms?]

If the leaves are shredded and wet down, I don't see a problem. Shredding reduces the volumetric area that the leaves displace, while increasing their surface area. Just pull what's left back as soon as possible in the spring to allow the beds to warm up. Once the beds are warmed up, then the remaining material can be either turned in, used as mulch, or added to the compost pile.

As far as too much...there's always a ridiculous number, but IMO someone would have to work hard to achieve it.

[beeman]

A few years ago I dropped all of the leaves raked off the lawn onto the veggie plot.
Early in the spring I realized it was a bad idea. The snow had flattened them down into a solid pack. Underneath was cold and wet, best installation of insulation ever.
The next year I shredded them before dumping on the patch, much better, come the spring they had almost disappeared.
Now I shred, cover with black plastic and let the worms have at them.

[pdxwindjammer]

JoParrot, my seeds aren't quite ready for the Marconi but will be soon. as for what I will do at planting time with the leaves, I would just dig out space for the plants and keep them there. They will decay at some point.

Beeman, We rarely get snow. Some years we don't get any so that shouldn't be a problem here.

Does covering with black plastic kill the beneficials? I am always afraid to do that for fear of killing everything under the plastic.

[beeman]

Originally Posted by pdxwindjammer

Beeman, We rarely get snow. Some years we don't get any so that shouldn't be a problem here.

Does covering with black plastic kill the beneficials? I am always afraid to do that for fear of killing everything under the plastic.

In a word NO. I have been using this method for many years and generally my garden has never looked better. No weeds and good overall growth patterns!!

[pdxwindjammer]

I am conflicted about this because I have heard that it does kill beneficials. I just did some googling and found this along with other info. Perhaps it depends on the weather. We are also not allowed to use plastic in our community garden so that is not an option for me, although I am curious.

"Although plastic barriers suppress weeds and diseases, they are costly, require effort first to lay and then to remove, divert water out of garden beds, and end up in the trash at the end of the season. They warm the soil, which can mean earlier harvests, but they can also kill the good bugs and bacteria that support a healthy organic garden. And plastic mulch is petroleum-based, energy-intensive to create, and unrecyclable."

[nnjjohn]

I was thinking first covering with the preferred ( breathable/perforated) cheap plastic black garden bed mulch that breaks down within a season but, I think now to save it for planting in the spring..and just go it with my mulching mower.. shred them in the mower bag and dump on top of the 2 to 5 inch deep horse stable bedding mix I got in today before the rain! happy Halloween!

[beeman]

Originally Posted by nnjjohn

I was thinking first covering with the preferred ( breathable/perforated) cheap plastic black garden bed mulch that breaks down within a season but, I think now to save it for planting in the spring..and just go it with my mulching mower.. shred them in the mower bag and dump on top of the 2 to 5 inch deep horse stable bedding mix I got in today before the rain! happy Halloween!

Sounds really good to me. I would avoid using that cheap plastic mulch. A lot of it doesn't break down fully, just breaks up into smaller pieces and persists in the soil for a long time.

[beeman]

Originally Posted by pdxwindjammer

"Although plastic barriers suppress weeds and diseases, they are costly, require effort first to lay and then to remove, divert water out of garden beds, and end up in the trash at the end of the season. They warm the soil, which can mean earlier harvests, but they can also kill the good bugs and bacteria that support a healthy organic garden. And plastic mulch is petroleum-based, energy-intensive to create, and unrecyclable."

It's easy to copy and paste information from other sources, but I treat all information off the internet with caution!
I was sceptical regarding the use of Black Plastic, but decided to try a portion of my veggie patch. All I can report is, it works for me. It certainly doesn't kill off good bacteria in my yard, if it did the crops wouldn't grow as well as they do, in my organic plot.
As for 'unrecyclable'. I roll it up and use it year after year. To date the stuff I have is 5 years old, one or two holes, but still in use.
I suppose the answer is, If you haven't tried it, then don't knock it, just because you read it somewhere else!!!

[Doug9345]

Originally Posted by pdxwindjammer

I am conflicted about this because I have heard that it does kill beneficials. I just did some googling and found this along with other info. Perhaps it depends on the weather. We are also not allowed to use plastic in our community garden so that is not an option for me, although I am curious.

"Although plastic barriers suppress weeds and diseases, they are costly, require effort first to lay and then to remove, divert water out of garden beds, and end up in the trash at the end of the season. They warm the soil, which can mean earlier harvests, but they can also kill the good bugs and bacteria that support a healthy organic garden. And plastic mulch is petroleum-based, energy-intensive to create, and unrecyclable."

The trouble with a lot of these sort of blurbs is that they assume everyone's situation is the same. The claims that are made are generalities without any data connected to them. Finally they make assumptions that aren't calculated out or tested and then state them as fact.

Take the energy intensive claim. Is plastic mulch more energy intensive that hauling loads of leaves from wherever or consume more energy than multiple passes with petroleum powered equipment to knock weeds down.

I'm going to try some black plastic next year to warm the soil and, if it's a rainy year like this one, to get some water away from the beds. I also have to do something to at least tie in the weed game.

[beeman]

Originally Posted by Doug9345

I'm going to try some black plastic next year to warm the soil and, if it's a rainy year like this one, to get some water away from the beds. I also have to do something to at least tie in the weed game.

Yehaaaa!! A convert.
Please, when you get results pass the word, perhaps we might prevent another use of Roundup or some other bacteria killing herbicide/pesticide.

[matilda'skid]

I put down big sheets of brown cardboard from Sam's and leaves over that. It is slick to walk on so might not work in a community garden. The worms love it.

[pdxwindjammer]

Beeman, no need to get defensive. I wasn't, as you say, "knocking it." I was only pointing out some info I found about using black plastic as a mulch. I have heard from numerous people that it kills beneficials and we aren't allowed to use plastic in our garden plots any way so I can't try it.

[Doug9345]

What I'm think I'm going to do is to see if I can get the cover off a bunk silo. My understanding is that they only get used once. The piece I saw was black on one side and white on the other.