A garden is only as good as the ground that it's planted in. Discussion forum for the many ways to improve the soil where we plant our gardens.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: albuquerque
Posts: 308
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The last two mornings were 16 and 18 degrees and all the fruitless mulberry trees are dropping their leaves at once. 45 degrees this morning. I have two people who do yardwork and will deliver, but the wife wants fewer leaves, says not enough nitrogen. Eventually I have to go to the stables for a load of used horse food to mix with the leaves to keep her happy. In any case Rutgers University has a fact sheet titled "Plant Nutrients in Municipal Leaves" fs824. Just avoid walnut leaves.
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Cowtown, Texas – 7B/8A
Posts: 192
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,893
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Oh no! I recently scrounged some bags of leaves. People leave them out for pickup in huge paper bags so I helped myself. I looked in one and saw WALNUTS, but figured that I could pick those out when I came to use the leaves. I never even thought about the leaves containing juglone.
Thanks for the wake up call! Linda Edited to add that I just looked it up, and juglone IS broken down by composting, so it's a relief that I can still use my big bags containing walnut leaves ![]() Last edited by Labradors2; November 21, 2017 at 09:55 AM. |
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#4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Posts: 4,832
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The entire walnut family of trees, including pecans, all produce jugalone, really kills the nightshade family.
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: albuquerque
Posts: 308
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Yesterday (28th) I called the number for the feed store and stables I used to go to and got the changed or out of service message. Drove out anyway today. It is and has been a church for 2 or 3 years. There are a couple of stables closer anyway.
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: SE PA
Posts: 971
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I did not know that. I put about 2 quarts of walnut husks (made dye with them) through the shredder about an hour ago as I finished some leaves. I will keep this in mind for next time.
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#7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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The poison in walnut breaks down fast in compost.
Worth |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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In pecans too, I had to research because I have 13 pecan trees and a few oaks so it's mostly pecan trees leaves that make it to the garden.
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: UK
Posts: 82
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Sometimes I wonder if there's an irony occurring with our ancestors, who having named 'leaves' so that we would leave them where they are, are now wondering why we spend so much time raking them up and burning this great nutritious mulch.
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#10 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Cowtown, Texas – 7B/8A
Posts: 192
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![]() Quote:
We'd benefit greatly from more the good, critical thought you're applying here. |
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Tomato Cornhole
Posts: 2,550
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Why do people think they need to rake them up instead of just mowing them back into the soil?
I recently saw a guy raking his yard(about 2 acres) and bagging leaves and pine needles then setting them at the roadside for the garbage truck to pick up. I stopped and asked him if I could take them and he said yes so now he stacks them next to an old driveway in his yard and I stop by once a week to pick up the bags. I have plenty of leaves from the property already but since these are bagged I'll save them in an old barn for later use. I'm at 12 bags in two weeks and there's more to come. I was even nice enough to offer him tomatoes and cucumbers this growing season and he was elated. |
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MA/NH Border
Posts: 4,919
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Some of us have so many leaves that fall in such a short span of time that mowing them all back in isn't an option. We could collect the leaves twice a week and still have a thick blanket over the yard on any given day.
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