Should I put fallen leaves in my flower bed to keep the soil fertile or should I throw them in the garbage?
Question:I live in an urban environment and have a small patio with a few small flower beds. I usually clean fallen leaves out of the flower beds, but worry that there will not be enough nutrients in the soil if I don't allow them to decompose. Is it a good idea to keep the dead leaves and branches so that they can return nutrients to the soil. Will egg shells help as well?
Answers:
Aren't you supposed to keep them to decompose a bit, along with other vegetable matter, to form a compost to put back in the soil?
I think that would add acidity or PH to your soil.
Start yr own compost heap
They never completely decompose, you'll still be left with dead leaves and branches. I've still got dead leaves from last year from the poplar trees in the park adjacent to my garden. Stick them in the green recycling bin. Use one of those cute new hose attachments to feed your garden.
If you want to keep your flower beds looking neat and tidy rather than leaving the leaves scattered about on top of the soil, why not make a small compost bin and then dig in your own home-grown recycled fertiliser for the garden to enjoy? Seems a terrible waste to throw good composting material away in the dustbin.
throw em
Crushed egg shells will help balance out any raise in PH caused by the leaves, they're very good for the garden. Tea leaves and tea bags don't need composting either.
Woodlands make their soil from fallen leaves, it won't hurt to use them. You can rake them into a pile and leave them for a year, then spread them around. Or use a wormery or compost bin.
i put all mine in the compost bin,you could put them in a bag and let them decompose, them add to you soil.
Fallen leaves do help contribute to the soil but they take a long time to decompose if not chipped into small pieces.
Egg shells will likely draw small animals and insects so you may not want this.
One thing you could do, without a lot of work, is help the leaves decompose. In the fall when all your flowers have died, put a layer of newspaper--about 2-3 newspaper sheets thick--on top of the leaves. Then use either a landscaping fabric or black plastic to turn up the heat on the leaves for better decomposing and also for appearance sake. If you don't like the looks of the landscape fabric or plastic, throw a bunch of stones or mulch on top.
For a million years, flowers have been fed by the shedding of their own leaves. But it takes time. By putting newspaper and mulch over them, it helps speed up the process. And you are also doing a good thing for the earth by allowing the flowers to feed themselves by shedding leaves and allowing them to decompose and feed your flowers the next year.
Some good answers. But, be aware that compost piles create a lot of heat. Do not compost or store composted material in your garage or house. It should be away from these structures. It is possible for compost to catch fire by spontaneous combustion.
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