Introduction
Now it’s getting to the end of the year and the winter season is in full swing. It is now a good time to make sure that you protect the roots of any plants in your garden and minimise weed growth amongst other things.This can be achieved by the process of mulching. Mulches are generally defined as layers of debris, usually in the form of leaves, that go on top of the soil to achieve its specific objective. Furthermore, it will also make your garden aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
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As mentioned above there are several benefits in using your autumn leaves as part of a mulch, including eradicating weeds, protecting plants roots from colder temperatures etc. which will be further discussed throughout. Because autumn leaves will be a part of a biodegradable leaf mould,they will generally break down over a period and release nutrients into the soil and help improve its structure as well as what has already been discussed.
Key Benefits (Examples)
Insulate Hardy + Tender Plants
Any autumn leaves used in a leaf mould, an ideal mulch to use when insulating plants from the adverse drop in temperatures in the winter season. To make sure the leaves are kept in the right place, we would recommend putting fencing or some sort of mesh/caging up.
Ability to MulchFlower + Vegetable Beds
If you are a keen gardener and always find yourself with large quantities of autumn leaves around this time, then it may not be so bad after all as they are a great mulch for your flower + vegetable beds. Once the first significant frost has occurred, clear out your beds and cover them with ideally between 2-3 inches of your leaves. Over the winter period, these will slowly break down, adding nutrients to your soil in the process. Furthermore, you can add fertiliser to speed up the decomposition process if you have any and time is against you. Then when springtime comes around, apply them to you flower and vegetable beds to contract weed growth within the beds. Also, the mulch will also help your soil retain moisture and keep the roots of your plants at a good temperature.
How to Make Leaf Mould
Firstly, you need to rake all your autumn leaves and place them into a big pile. Now ideally, leaves that are smaller in size will decompose quicker than whole leaves (smaller leaves generally take a few months to fully decompose, in comparison to anywhere between 2-3 years for whole leaves). A good way to break the leaves down is if you have children, then get them to stomp up and down on the pile, it’s an ideal scenario as its keeps them occupied and you don’t have to the tiring process yourself.
If you don’t have children, then you can break the leaves downby putting them into a garden shredder or garden vacuum. For garden shreddingwe would recommend the
Mountfield MCS2200 Garden Shredder and for collection and shredding we would recommend the ‘Stihl SH86 C-E Leaf blower/Vacuum’,which can both pick up the leaves and shred them for you. Just remember to replace the parts if there is any damage to the machine. Furthermore, if you don’t have a leaf or garden shredder, then you can just mow over them and the same outcome occurs.
Finally, place your shredded/whole leaves into rubbish bags and place them somewhere so that they don’t become disturbed, otherwise the time it will take to fully decompose will increase.
When to Apply the Mulch
The ideal time to lay down your leaf mould is generally recommended around late autumn time, when the soil is at its peak in terms of temperature and how moist it is. But, early winter is also not too late, if the temperatures haven’t dropped dramatically and its not significantly too wet/dry.
How to Apply Mulch
Being a biodegradable mulch, the leaf mould should be applied with a thickness between the range of 2-3 inches, to allow for optimum effectiveness. Also, it should be applied after you have removed all visible weeds and debris. This should be done before the soil gets too frozen. If the leaf mould is applied like this, then there should be no problems that arise.On the other hand, if it comes in contact with the roots of the plants, then it can cause their stems to soften and therefore make them more susceptible to diseases, such as bacterial soft rot, which affects a large proportion of all plant families.
It is also key to remember that the leaf mould will need replacing once it has fully rotted down, otherwise the benefits of the original process will become obsolete and it will become difficult for the water to penetrate the mould and the soil and reach the roots of your plants.
We hope that this information will give guidance to you when deciding what to do with your autumn leaves and the process of mulching itself.