Oak and Other Hardwood Leaves as Mulch

[marc_groleau]

I'm thinking about going into the woods that surround my garden and bringing back leaves from the forest floor to use as mulch. Any downside to doing this? I wouldn't want to introduce any organisms that have a negative impact on my garden.

Thanks,

[bcday]

The downside might be the effect on the woods, depending on how much of the leaf cover you remove. The fallen leaves serve a purpose there and removing them could have a negative impact on the woods. You could note the spots where you take the leaves and see what changes occur in the following years.

[Redbaron]

All I can say is that I personally tried something similar. Although I didn't take the top leaves. What I did was rake away the top leaves, then used the leaf mold under, then raked the top level back.

The leaf mold I then used in my garden. It was a wonderful addition. I have also used a very decayed log before. In a woods various falls after many years turn into not much more than a moss covered lump on the ground. The wood is gone, decayed into a soft moist crumbly mass. I used that and it was wonderful for my garden. Both those things I did years ago when I was experimenting with organic for the first time. But I still used a tiller back then. So I didn't use it as mulch, I tilled it into my garden to improve the soil and used grass clippings as mulch.

[kurt]

I have a similar experience here at home.I have a patch of ground under some Lychee,Oak,Loganberry,Ficus tress that shed a lot of leaves.When my container herbs,lettuce,arugalas,peppers and whatever else gets old I take them to this patch and put in the ground just to see what happens.Old seeds are scattered in,some mints etc.I call this my "wild garden".Now after a few years it is my "go to"spot in the yard since everything seems to regenerate,reseed and no real bug/disease infestations.I might have to go out every once in a while to pull the small fruit saplings and some weeds that take residence.The tree leaves seem to be the best mulch.I am starting to rethink this manicured garden scheme.The Red Barons "no till"idea has a lot of merit to consider.

[matilda'skid]

I also robbed the shallow layer under the leaves for my garden. It is good stuff.

[marc_groleau]

I wouldn't strip the leaves to the ground. The woods are so thick here, the layers are inches thick. So far it sounds like it's worth a try.

[bughunter99]

You could and probably will introduce seeds that you don't want, into your garden. Poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac would be the worst of the bunch. Other stuff like wild garlic and hemlock will just be really annoying.

Once in the garden, it is not fun to get rid of.

Leaf mold is so easy to make yourself. Pile a giant stack of leaves in the driveway and roll the lawn mower over it a bunch of times until it is very fine. Benefits are immediate. You do not have to wait for it to compost.
It is very pretty, very excellent, very pure mulch without any of the unwanted s.

[bughunter99]

Originally Posted by bcday

The downside might be the effect on the woods, depending on how much of the leaf cover you remove. The fallen leaves serve a purpose there and removing them could have a negative impact on the woods. You could note the spots where you take the leaves and see what changes occur in the following years.

This. Those "shallow layers" take a very long time to accumulate. Years of damage could be the inadvertent result.

[travis]

I use lots of leaf mulch for organic material in my tomato patch. Lots! But I've found over the years that the best way to do it is to blow the leaves from your lawn over to the garden area, then run back and forth over them with a power mower until they are well chopped up.

Then apply some pelletized gypsum and high nitrogen to the exposed garden soil, blow the leaf mulch atop the soil surface, and lime the top of the leaves. I do all this in the fall, because the nitrogen will be eaten up by the decomposition of the leaf mulch, and the lime will neutralize the acid in the hardwood leaves. The result should be a fairly neutral layer of decomposed, organic material.

I've done this for quite a while at the same location (about 12 years now), and the soil in my patch is black. In the spring, I only dig a large enough hole to plant each vine, and cover the area with another sprinkling of fertilizer, then a thick layer of wheat straw. Basically, I have gone to no-till as a result of building up the soil in this patch to the point that it doesn't have to be tilled except directly at the point of inserting the transplants.

[jerryinfla]

Marc - Shredded leaves and leaf mold are arguably the best mulch one could use in a vegetable garden; however, taking it from the forest floor might not be the best idea for reasons some have pointed out above. A more ecologically sound source would be to make your own from the bags of leaves that your neighbors leave on the curbside for waste disposal to haul off to the landfill. If you collect leaves every year and shred them you could build a sizable stash in time. That's what I do every fall and now I have more than 10 cubic yards of the stuff. Some of it is more than two years old now and pretty close to what I'd call leaf mold.

[matilda'skid]

I haul in bagged leaves from town. I have done that for years. Lots of people don't know how valuable they are and think you are doing them a favor by taking them. They make a pretty mulch chopped but are also good whole. I put them in my garden and cover cardboard with them although that is slick to walk on.

Some may have an old established forest. Lots of "forests" are second growth or introduced trash trees not a really native forest that could be ruined. I am getting my layer from under Osage Orange which are a thorny nuisance. Also the poster is not moving the material far and you can't really get that much by hand. You must have perfect gardens if you don't have more weeds than those in the woods. In this area before brushhogs people used to clear small areas to plant strawberries because the woods soil had no weed seeds.

[tjg911]

i don't know if you have room but every fall i get 1 or 2 dump trucks of shredded leaves dumped near the garden. i give the guy $20 for his time to come here tho he may well have to pay to dump them locally as i know some do.

i just spread 2 large garden carts of shredded leaves in the garden this morning. only 1/2 of the garden is planted, 2 carts is a lot but really nothing compared to what i'll use over the next 2 weeks but then i have a lot of leaves. come fall i till them under and get more for next year. no weeding, water retention, cooler soil in july, did i mention no weeds!!!!!!

tom

[marc_groleau]

I get the whole ecological thing and thanks your input.. Maybe i'll rake the leaves off of the many trails as opposed to going to the untraveled forest floor. As for using other's leaf waste, it's'great idea if they come from a source that is known not to fertilize, or worst yet, use weed killer on their lawns. I imagine just from raking the leaves across such a lawn to gather them, youkd be likely to dredge up some ingredients that I try to avoid in my garden.
This is all good input. Thanks to all of you.

[Stvrob]

I rake away the loose leaves from the wooded area in a pile, then I harvest the moldy stuff right below. Then as I'm leaving, I rake the loose leaves back over the top. I don't get much weeds at all, maybe a stray oak seedling, but nothing serious. I don't see any ecological harm.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Agreed, Rob. The forest makes tons of the stuff every year - you aren't going to harm it by taking as much as you need.