Fallen leaf compost. How to make compost from fallen leaves Which tree leaves are best to use for compost

Advantages and disadvantages of leaf compost

It is hardly worth talking again about the outstanding merits prepared on the basis and poultry - such organic fertilizers have no equal. But the luxury of their application without any financial investments can afford only rural residents who keep on the farm livestock and a bird.

For "urban" summer residents, the purchase of manure and litter today makes a significant hole in their pocket. Leaf compost is inferior to such fertilizers in terms of nutritional value, but cultivated plants respond well to it and will never refuse such yummy. So why spend money on buying manure if you have free material at hand?

Ripe leaf compost quickly saturates the soil with humic compounds and trace elements and effectively restores soil fertility. When embedded in the ground, it perfectly improves its structure: it adds moisture capacity to sandy soil, and air permeability to clay soil.

Not fully decomposed leaf mass (young compost) is an excellent product for mulching vegetables and flower crops. Flowers and vegetables do not suffer from, characteristic of and. Therefore, in this case, foliage can be used to prepare compost even from under diseased garden plantings.

The only downside leaf compost- acid reaction. When applied to the soil, it will reduce its pH level, therefore, it will require the use of deoxidizers (dolomite flour, lime, chalk, ash, etc.).

The cycle of leaf compost on the site

Depending on the preparation technology and tree species from which the foliage was taken, it will take 1.5-2 years for the leaf compost to fully mature. If you do not help the compost to ripen, then this process will take longer.

In order to have such a valuable fertilizer at your fingertips every season, I propose to build 3 compost bins on the site at once. In the first, you will lay another batch of fresh litter every fall. In the second compost bin, at this time, the maturation of last year's mixture of leaves and earth will take place. And the third tray at this point will provide you with fully matured compost.

You can use the contents of the third compost bin in the same autumn to fertilize the beds, or postpone the procedure until spring. Do not tighten using matured compost, because the third tray to next summer need to be released. It is needed in order to shift the ripening leaf mass from the first "barn" into it. By transferring the contents of the first bin to the empty one, you can move the contents of the second bin to the first.

This "shuffling" of the compost will significantly speed up its maturation. By shoveling the contents of the compost bins, you saturate it with oxygen, which is necessary for beneficial microorganisms and for normal life, and without their help, it will not be possible to prepare fertilizer. Transshipment should be carried out at least 2-3 times per season. The work is laborious, but extremely important.

The lazy option is to make only 1 compost bin. Fill it with leaves and earth, and next season periodically shovel the contents - lay them on the ground and return them back. Next fall, mulch with young compost perennials or beds with winter crops. The ripening of such a semi-finished fertilizer will continue in the new season already "in place". In the same autumn, you can fill the empty container new portion foliage.

We equip the compost bin

If you do not spare money for your favorite dacha, you can go the most the easy way and buy ready-made compost bins. Such devices will save you from unnecessary trouble, and will long years help to obtain valuable leaf compost.

Our market is very big choice various devices for this purpose in different price categories. Choose suitable option for your site, you can by looking at the selection.

Unbranded Composter plastic black 600 l 2 299 RUB LOOK
OBI

Plastic garden composter with lid 800 l Plastic garden composter with lid 800 l 7 499 RUB LOOK
OBI

garden composter 800 l Garden composter 800 l 4 999 RUB LOOK
OBI

Plastic garden composter with lid 630 l Plastic garden composter with lid 630 l 5 999 RUB LOOK
OBI

Less prosperous summer residents adapt old barrels, tanks, cast iron bathtubs and even dense garbage bags with a volume of 200 liters or more. The main rule when using such improvised means is holes in their walls, which will provide air flow to the ripening humus mass. The contents of these containers will also need to be shoveled several times during the season: transferred from one to another or poured onto the ground covered with foil, and then returned back again.

The most time-consuming option is the construction of a stationary compost bin with 3 compartments made of boards, slate, tin and any other materials at hand. Be sure to leave gaps in the walls of such a device or make them from a strong mesh. If you are building a high compost bin, make one side of it collapsible so that you can easily access the contents later.

Leaf compost technology

After leaf fall, collect fallen leaves and lay them in a tray, sprinkling with layers of earth 5-10 cm thick. If the foliage and soil are dry, be sure to spill them with water. Owners can add cut grass to the contents - it will speed up the ripening of humus. It is also permissible to put soft tops of vegetables and without seeds there, as well as kitchen waste of plant origin.

It's great if you have fresh manure or bird droppings at your disposal. Be sure to add these nitrogenous foods to total mass or spill the contents with a solution based on them. Alternative option- a solution of purchased (urea, ammonium nitrate etc.), prepared at the rate of 20-30 g per 10 liters of water.

An excellent effect on the further decomposition of organics will have a solution of the EM preparation. Dilute the concentrate in water according to the instructions, and when laying the organic filling, spill it useful solution.

So that in the future you do not have to deacidify the soil in the beds that you fertilize with leaf compost, smooth out the acid reaction immediately. To do this, at the stage of laying organic matter, sprinkle its layers of wood, dolomite flour, slaked lime or chalk.

Over the next season, in addition to regularly shoveling the maturing compost, you will need to periodically moisten it with water. It will be useful to use a solution of mullein, urea, or with which you moisten the contents a couple of times per season. Be sure to take care of the lid on the compost bin if you made one yourself. It will be required to protect the organic mass from drying out in summer heat and from being washed away during heavy rains.

You can do it easier - cover the top of the compost mass thick film and make holes in it for air access. And do not forget to collect a handful of earthworms in the garden and run them in a heap. After a short time, they will breed in a nutritious featherbed in huge numbers and accelerate the maturation of the compost.

How to tell if leaf compost is ripe

Fully matured leaf compost is a loose homogeneous mass. In it, you should not find the skeletons of leaves or undecomposed remains of other waste that were laid along with the litter. There will be no earthworms in mature compost: they will leave the compost bin when it runs out of food. Distinctive feature mature leaf compost - a pleasant "forest" aroma.

What leaves are not suitable for composting

Unfortunately, not all leaves are suitable for composting. The foliage of some tree species contains a lot of tannins, which in the future will have Negative influence for development cultivated plants. You should not let fall from under the case,

Everyone knows that the main organs of plants are roots, stems and leaves. And if the first two are given attention, then the leaves are not lucky in this regard. They are only said to contain chlorophyll and, through photosynthesis, provide carbohydrates and other nutrients to the entire plant. Well, as for the already fallen tree leaf, in most publications it is believed that it is completely useless and unnecessary, since it does not contain nutrients and it is not a fertilizer.

This means that an amateur gardener concludes for himself that the fallen leaf must be taken to a landfill, which is done in the city. And what will happen to the roots of trees without this protective layer? Are autumn leaves so useless?

Flower growers were the first to talk about the use of leaf humus. And it's understandable why. The moisture capacity of the soil increases and its structure and mechanical composition improve. But is it only necessary for flower growers? If a leaf litter bring it from the forest, and take it from your site and simply put it in a pile, it will be stored for a long time without rotting.

Another thing is forest leaf litter. This is where the desire to cook actually began. leaf humus and compost.

In a deciduous or mixed forest, without depriving the trees, I rake up a layer of half-decayed leaves, capturing a little of the topsoil as well. Usually this layer already consists of leaf humus. This composition has an acid reaction of the soil solution. I put all the prepared mass into spherical hemispherical heaps and compact it a little.

Readiness of leaf humus determined by appearance and smell (a purely forest, not a putrid smell appears). Such humus can be applied to the soil as a loosening and fertilizing material. Forest bed prepared as humus, compost is especially good for clay soil.

How do I prepare this compost component? I water the heap with slurry, a solution of fermented herbs, and feces can also be added, as recommended. But I do not bring the latter for sanitary and hygienic reasons. For such short term, which I take away for the preparation of compost - 8 months, helminths, if they are there, will not be disinfected in time and will fall into the soil. Also, it seems to me, it is necessary to pay attention to the preparation of prefabricated compost, where the conditions are different, and the preparation time too.

We are talking about the fallen leaf, but it is brought into the compost and with fruit trees and shrubs, only if the leaves are healthy and not damaged by pests and diseases. Affected leaves are to be burned or removed from the garden plot away, where they are disinfected in a natural way.

This applies not only to leaves from trees, but also to vegetable and other herbal leaves, which are also included in the compost, but in healthy, without rot, pests, diseases. In prefabricated compost, the leaves contribute to better aeration, moisture capacity and act as a ripper. But to accelerate the maturation of compost, the leaves must be applied in crushed form.

Otherwise, the leaves of a tree such as aspen stick together with plates and are stored in this form for years. It is best to make a birch, linden leaf, which does not need to be crushed. Dry leaf is used not only in compost, but also as a component in the construction warm beds, where, mixed with straw, hay, grass residues, it contributes to the production of heat for the roots of plants, and is also protective layer from the dank cold layer of soil. To do this, I collect dry leaves in dry weather and store until spring in closed containers. In particular, they are stored in my barrels under a canopy and in cans.

A dry leaf is also used by me as a mulching material for trunk circles fruit trees and shrubs, and garden beds. Including as a protective layer, and hence the roots of plants from freezing and drying up the soil. The soil under the leaf is always moderately moist.

Now the autumn period of plant life has come. This year, the leaves of birch, linden, mountain ash and other plants turn yellow and fall first. Then mass leaf fall will begin. Dry leaves are used along with dry peat, chopped straw as bedding material with a layer of up to 30 cm, which absorbs liquid well when preparing a site for the preparation of any compost.

Dry leaves passed my test for suitability as an insulating, and at the same time, aerosol material for winter garlic, planted in late September - the first decade of October. On a ridge with planted garlic, I pour a layer of 5-10 cm of dry birch leaves and cover with spruce branches or stems of raspberries, Jerusalem artichoke - so that they are not blown away by the wind, in winter I still add 20-30 cm of snow. There has never been a case that winter garlic, planted to a depth of 8-10 cm, I have frozen. In the spring, with the removal of shelter, it actively grows and produces good large bulbs.

A good result is obtained by the method of ripening compost in boxes or compost heaps.

Over the years of gardening, I have developed the following technology. Given the possibility of freezing compost, I cook the latter in shallow pits. laying technology is the same

The depth of the pit is 30 cm, the width is 2.5 m. Experience has shown that the process of decay and fermentation in the pit does not stop even in winter. Now I'm already taking care of composting for the right time. My deadline is in the foreground. And microorganisms, bacteria, earthen fleas, fungi, worms and other living creatures in the soil will figure out for themselves what to do with this organic matter, plant food. This is noticeable on trial, test beds. Plants grow faster than normal.

So, having provided a five-centimeter bedding layer in the pit, I lay dry leaves of deciduous trees moistened with a solution of saltpeter or carbamide (urea) in layers (except oak, which rot poorly and contain tannins). For every 10-centimeter layer of leaves, I always pour a layer of garden or soddy soil. For what? In order to, in addition to the structural composition of the soil, the macro- and microelements contained in it, also introduce soil microflora into the leaf layer.

Next comes the next layer of bulk leaves. Here we are already moistening it with slurry, or a solution of fermented grass. You can add a solution of fertile garden soil from your site. Next, the next layer of leaves, which we will moisten with a solution of caustic soda.

Caustic soda is not a fertilizer per se, but the caustic helps to extract chlorophyll from the leaves. Then the next layer - a solution is applied wood ash, then again a layer of leaves moistened with water. We cover everything with a five-centimeter layer of mowed grass. The next layer is covered with chopped straw - for oxygen, hay - for microorganisms, moistened with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.

The compost pit is covered with sods 20 × 10 cm, laid tightly to each other on top of the heap, grass cover down. Then I install two vertical tubes to the middle of the pile - for air and moistening the pile, then I take them out and fill the holes.

I have two holes. One is where the components are assembled. The other is where the composition is shoveled. I do shoveling about a month after laying all the material in the first pile. This must be done to loosen the compost, and hence improve aeration, for better mixing of the composition of the heap.

So I had to give up classical forms composters and move on to cumulus forms. In addition to other advantages, I consider the main thing for me to be convenience and ease (after all, age is no longer the same strength) in the shoveling itself. After that, the compost is ready and can be applied to the soil.

Leaf humus contains almost no nutrients, so it cannot be used as a fertilizer. Advantages humus lie in its soil-conditioning properties. Soil generously fertilized humus, retains moisture at the roots of plants longer, helping them survive summer drought and saving the gardener time, labor and money. Humus - favorite place habitats of earthworms, great helpers of the gardener. semi-finished humus is a great addition to garden compost. Using fallen leaves for making humus, they do not have to be burned, poisoning themselves and their neighbors with acrid smoke. If you care Environment, then plant acidophiles (plants that love acidic soil) in a mixture soil with humus and refuse to use shop peat, which is extracted from unique natural peat bogs.

Collection of leaves for leaf humus

In flower beds, among shrubs or other plantings collect leaves it is possible with the help of special hand-held fan rakes that do not damage neighboring plants. On a small lawn or other open space, use a lawn fan rake. Benefits of "old fashioned" hand assembled are that you can work in wet weather, which is not uncommon in autumn. Wet leaves are best for leaf humus because they decompose faster.

On the patio and others flat surfaces to collect leaves, use a broom or a special garden vacuum cleaner that works in two modes. By blowing air, it will help to collect the fallen leaves in a pile. Drawing in air, he will collect the leaves in a special bag, after crushing them. On large lawns, it is most convenient to use a lawn mower to collect leaves, setting the blades to the highest height.

The advantage of using a lawn mower and a vacuum cleaner is that the leaves are shredded and collected in one place (bag or basket), saving the gardener a lot of time and physical effort. Crushed leaves decompose much faster and turn into humus. However, working with them has its own limitations: you can use the equipment only in dry weather; with wet leaves, they do not work as efficiently at all; the collection of leaves with a lawn mower has to be carried out regularly, not allowing them to accumulate.

Preparation of leaf humus

The collected leaves should be moistened, tightly laid and tamped. You can use the following for:

Special leaf designs (four wooden pegs covered with metal "chicken" mesh), 1m x 1m or larger with open top
Dense plastic bags for garden waste. Pierce bags filled with wet leaves in several places, the top can be slightly twisted or even left open.
Special bags for preparation of leaf humus(sold in garden centers), see photo below.

Bags for the preparation of leaf humus. Wet leaves are left in such bags in a secluded corner of the site. Ready humus take it out and use it when you need it

Fungal cultures, which decompose leaves and turn them into humus, require almost no oxygen (this is one of the significant differences from making garden compost), but they do require high humidity. Mixing leaves with green grass clippings also speeds up the process.

Now all you have to do is be patient and wait. As with garden compost production, it's only hard to wait in the first year. And when the process is already established, then during the laying of a new batch of leaves, last year's one is already ready for winter mulching and other autumn work in the garden.

What leaves to use for leaf humus? In fact, any. However, remember that the time of decomposition of the leaves depends on the type of tree. Quickly (within a year) subject to compliance right conditions the leaves of most deciduous trees decompose: birch, oak, maple, hawthorn, mountain ash, hornbeam, hazel. Evergreen leaves and needles can take 2-3 years to decompose, and it is especially recommended to grind such leaves in a garden vacuum cleaner, lawn mower or shredder.

The use of leaf humus

Young leaf humus is ready in 0.5 - 2 years, depending on the quality of preparation and tree species. In the young humus, in addition to the dark homogeneous soil, the skeletons of the leaves are clearly visible, sometimes whole leaves and small sticks come across. Such humus can be added to the soil on the site, in

Good afternoon to all gardeners! Gardener I. Krivega tells how to make compost with your own hands from fallen leaves. Leaves are a free material that we bypass our attention, but in vain! This is a very high quality organic fertilizer.

What can be sent to the compost heap

The figure shows what can be added to compost pit. This is foliage, and food waste, and tops, and thin branches, and lawn grass, and waste products of domestic animals.

Leaves are very underestimated

Everyone knows that the main organs of plants are roots, stems and leaves. Meanwhile, the leaves were not lucky in this regard - few people write about their benefits ...

The leaves are only mentioned that they contain chlorophyll and in the process of photosynthesis provide nutrition for carbohydrates and other substances to the whole plant. Well, as for the already fallen tree leaf, it is believed that it is completely useless and unnecessary, since it does not contain nutrients, and it is not a fertilizer.

This means that an amateur gardener concludes for himself that the fallen leaf must be taken to a landfill, which is done in the city, and in the countryside, castings are most often burned in autumn heaps. And what will happen to the roots of trees without this protective layer? Are autumn leaves so useless?

Flower growers were the first to talk about the use of leaf humus

And it's understandable why. The moisture capacity of the soil increases and its structure and mechanical composition improve. But is it only necessary for flower growers? If you bring leaf litter from the forest, and even take it from your site and simply put it in a pile, it will be stored for a long time without rotting.

Another thing is forest leaf litter. From this, in fact, the desire to prepare leaf humus and compost began.

Collection of semi-rotted leaves from the forest

How to determine the degree of readiness

The readiness of leaf humus is determined by its appearance and smell (a purely forest, not a putrefactive smell appears). Such humus can be applied to the soil as a loosening and fertilizing material. Forest bed prepared as humus, compost is especially good for clay soil.

How to prepare this compost component?

A pile is watered with slurry, a solution of fermented herbs, and feces can also be added, as recommended. But I do not bring the latter for sanitary and hygienic reasons.

In such a short time as I take for composting - 8 months, helminths, if they are there, will not have time to decontaminate and fall into the soil. Also, it seems to me, it is necessary to pay attention to the preparation of prefabricated compost, where the conditions are different, and the preparation time too.

Compost - only healthy leaves

We are talking about a fallen leaf, but it is introduced into the combined compost from fruit trees and shrubs only if the leaves are healthy and not damaged by pests and diseases. Affected leaves are to be burned or removed from the garden plot away, where they will be disinfected in a natural way.

This applies not only to leaves from trees, but also to vegetable and other herbal leaves, which are also introduced into the compost, but in a healthy form, without rot, pests, and diseases. In prefabricated compost, the leaves contribute to better aeration, moisture capacity and act as a ripper.

But to accelerate the maturation of compost, the leaves must be applied in crushed form.. Otherwise, the leaves of a tree such as aspen stick together with plates and are stored in this form for years. It is best to make a birch, linden leaf, which does not need to be crushed.

Application of dry leaves

A dry leaf is used not only in compost, but also as a component in the construction of warm beds, where, mixed with straw, hay, grass residues, it helps to generate heat for plant roots, and also acts as a protective layer against a dank cold soil layer.

To do this, I collect dry leaves in dry weather and store until spring in closed containers. In particular, they are stored in my barrels under a canopy and in cans.

I also use a dry leaf as a mulching material for near-trunk circles of fruit trees and shrubs, as well as garden beds. Including as a protective layer, and hence the roots of plants from frost and soil drying. The soil under the leaf is always moderately moist.

Now the autumn period of plant life has come. This year, the leaves of birch, linden, mountain ash and other plants turn yellow and fall first. Then mass leaf fall will begin.

Dry leaves are used along with dry peat, chopped straw as bedding material with a layer of up to 30 cm, which absorbs liquid well when preparing a site for the preparation of any compost.

Warming leaves beds with winter garlic

Dry leaves have passed my test for suitability as an insulating, and at the same time, an aerosol material for winter garlic, planted in late September - the first decade of October.

On a ridge with planted garlic, I pour a layer of 5-10 cm of dry birch leaves and cover with spruce branches or stems of raspberries, Jerusalem artichoke - so that they are not blown away by the wind, in winter I also add 20-30 cm of snow.

There has never been a case that winter garlic, planted at a depth of 8-10 cm, froze. In the spring, with the removal of shelter, it actively grows and produces good large bulbs.

Making a compost pit

Over the years of gardening, I have developed the following technology. Given the possibility of freezing compost, I cook the latter in shallow pits. The depth of the pit is 30 cm, the width is 2.5 m.

Experience has shown that the process of decay, fermentation in the pit does not stop even in winter. Now I'm already taking care of preparing the compost for the right time. My deadline is in the foreground.

And microorganisms, bacteria, earthen fleas, fungi, worms and other living creatures in the soil will figure out for themselves what to do with this organic matter, plant food. This is noticeable on trial, test beds. Plants vegetate more actively than on normal ones.

Laying layers in a hole

So, having provided a five-centimeter bedding layer in the pit, I lay dry leaves of deciduous trees moistened with a solution of saltpeter or urea (urea) in layers (except oak, which rot poorly and contain tannins).

In general, to be honest, I can not imagine how to use fallen oak leaves as a type of fertilizer. Leaves decompose very poorly in compost heap and contain a fair amount of tannins, which degrade the quality of the soil. So that, I don't recommend composting them at all. .

For every 10 cm layer of leaves I always add a layer of garden or turf soil. For what? In order to, in addition to the structural composition of the soil, the macro- and microelements contained in it, also introduce soil microflora into the leaf layer.

Then the next layer- a solution of wood ash is introduced, then again a layer of leaves moistened with water. We cover everything with a five-centimeter layer of mowed grass.

The next layer is covered with chopped straw- for oxygen, hay - for microorganisms, moistened with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.

The compost pit is covered with turf 20x10 cm stacked tightly together on top of a pile, grass-side down. Then I install two vertical tubes to the middle of the pile - for air and moistening the pile, then I take them out and fill the holes.

Pit maintenance

I have two holes. One is where the components are assembled. Another - where the composition is shoveled. Shoveling is done in about a month after laying all the material in the first pile. This must be done to loosen the compost, and hence improve aeration, for better mixing of the composition of the heap.

Therefore, we had to abandon the classic forms of composters and move on to cumulus forms. In addition to other advantages, I consider the main thing for me to be convenience and ease (after all, age is no longer the same strength) in the shoveling itself. After that, the compost is ready and can be applied to the soil.