Mulching - Such a Thing As Too Many Leaves?

pdxwindjammer · October 31, 2013

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!

October 31, 2013	#1
pdxwindjammer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 625	Mulching - Such a Thing As Too Many Leaves? 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!