In autumn, many fallen leaves accumulate in the garden. But do not rush to burn them, of course, if they are not infected. dangerous diseases(coccomycosis, scab, powdery mildew). After all, healthy dry leaves can be very useful.
Experienced gardener I. Krivega tells how to make compost with your own hands from fallen leaves.
How to make compost from fallen leaves
Everyone knows that the main organs of plants are roots, stems and leaves. And if the authors of agricultural publications pay attention to the first two, then the leaves were 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 has no nutrients and 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?
See also: fallen leaves triple benefit from fallen leaves
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. From this, in fact, the desire to prepare leaf humus and compost began.
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.
The readiness of leaf humus is 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 have time to be disinfected 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 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 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 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.
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.
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 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 vegetate more actively than on normal ones.
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). For every 10-centimeter layer of leaves, I always add a layer of garden or sod land. 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 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 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.
I. Krivega. Material from the weekly newspaper "GARDENER"
Video: Compost from fallen leaves
Foliage covered the paths and paths, in the mornings the puddles are pulled together by a thin gloss of ice. Autumn has come to our garden. And everything pulls us to the dacha. It seems that all things before the winter can not be redone. But the eyes are afraid, but the hands do.
For those whose plots are not too fertile, experts recommend digging up half of the plot to increase the thickness of the fertile layer and. Must be brought in for digging mineral fertilizers: phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium at the rate of 10 g per 1 sq. meter. On the next year on such a bed you can grow carrots, potatoes, beets, beans, peas, tomatoes, horseradish, strawberries. Or plant currants.
The second half is dug up to a depth of 30-40 cm, if the site is new or has been abandoned for a long time. At the edge of the site, a furrow is dug 40 cm deep. Nearby, the humus part of the soil is removed to the width of a shovel and dumped to the bottom of the furrow with turf down. The rest of the soil is taken out and poured on top. Compost is introduced, any humus, peat at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 sq. meter.
Compost can be made from fallen leaves. However, experts do not recommend using leaves for its preparation. garden trees. So on a dry sunny day, you have to take a garden cart, a rake and go to a park or forest.
Fallen leaves contain macro- and microelements. But they act differently. Some stimulate growth, others make them wither. Harmful to the garden-garden rotted leaves of birch, aspen, oak, cherry, apple, raspberry. Useful are the leaves of elderberry, red and white currant, ash, linden, red-fruited mountain ash, maple and linden.
But the needles of coniferous trees are especially useful. They contain a huge amount of valuable substances that are useful not only for trees, but also for people. It is best to compost the needles together with the leaves of garden trees, mixing the mass thoroughly. Coniferous compost is introduced along with a deoxidizer, which must be bought at the store. If you are going to grow cranberries, lingonberries, blueberries on your plot, then such compost is simply irreplaceable. It should be mixed with peat for these crops.
Leaves for composting are stacked in dug trenches as follows: soil layer, foliage layer. All the weeds that you have collected from your garden are also added to the compost. There are also added peelings from potatoes and other vegetables, eggshell, Asleep Tea Infuser. If it rains, then nothing else is required. And in dry weather, trenches with leaves need watering.
If possible, manure or bird droppings are added to the water for irrigation. Composting takes two years. After that, the compost is sifted through a grid with large cells. What hasn't rotted is used in the next compost.
Two-year-old compost is used when planting trees, shrubs, vegetables, flowers, both garden and domestic.
Digging the soil is useful because it makes you defenseless against the cold and birds. harmful insects hiding in the leaves and in the upper layers of the soil.
berry bushes, perennials in the fall need to be transplanted to a permanent place.
In autumn, ditches for drainage up to 30 cm deep break through. They dig along the edges of the site and in the middle, so that in the spring, due to abundant snowmelt, the water does not melt buildings and plantings, but flows into the ditches.
The garden needs organic fertilizers, they are just given by compost. It improves physical and Chemical properties soil, activates the vital activity of useful microelements. More experienced gardeners use sideration– plowing the green mass of lupine, seradella and other annual herbs from the legume family. This method enriches the soil with organic matter, nitrogen and other nutrients. Green manure is especially useful for sandy and low-humus sandy soils.
All annuals are removed in autumn. All leaves, stems and other debris from the flower beds are removed and burned to prevent disease. Half-cut lashes of hybrid tea, polyanthus and miniature roses. Before shelter, the leaves of the roses break off. If this is not done, roses can die from fungal diseases. Weak shoots are also removed.
It is necessary to check the bark of fruit trees well, remove the nests of harmful insects found. Clean and whitewash all damaged and insect-infested areas.
If it is possible to visit the dacha in winter, then you should hang out the feeders and tame the birds. During the winter, they will deal with almost all pests. If this is not possible, then on the site you can leave the stems with boxes of annuals. Birds will eat them with pleasure, and at the same time they will destroy insects.
Before winter, some gardeners, when the soil freezes to a depth of about 2-3 cm, sow seeds early radish, rutabagas, turnips, beets, carrots, parsley, celery, dill. The beds are prepared in advance, making all the necessary fertilizers. Furrows for sowing seeds are made 2.5-3 cm deep and 2-2.5 cm wide. Seeds are sown during the thaw and twice as much as in spring. Some vegetable growers even plant potatoes before winter. But in our area risk farming Still, you shouldn't plant the whole field with them. And then in the spring you can be left without potatoes, and without seeds ...
It is better to select a small area for the experiment. Make a furrow, put straw manure or dry grass on the bottom. Put the tubers on this litter and cover them with earth. The tubers must be late varieties, green in the sun and medium-sized. The advantage of this planting is that in the spring you do not need to dig. The tubers, under successful circumstances, will harden, the harvest will be earlier.
And in late autumn you can treat yourself assorted autumn vegetables.
Are taken green tomatoes, apples of autumn varieties, carrots, onions, cauliflower, string beans. All this is cleaned, washed, placed in jars and poured with marinade: per liter of water 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of salt, 4 black peppercorns, 4 allspice peas.
All this is boiled for 10 minutes and 5 tbsp. spoons of 5% table vinegar. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.
Banks are covered with lids, liter ones are sterilized - 10 minutes, two-liter ones - 15 minutes, three-liter ones - 20 minutes. Cork, turn over and leave it until it cools completely.
This is probably one of the most delicious gifts of late autumn.
With the onset of autumn, most owners of private houses or summer cottages they begin to collect and burn the leaves. Passers-by at this moment, walking along the street, are indignant that there is nothing to breathe and there is impenetrable smoke, and clothes need to be aired for 24 hours.
There are several ways to dispose of fallen leaves. One of them is useful as a fertilizer and it can be made in a maximum of 2 weeks, while it is still standing. warm weather. You just need to hurry up: prepare a compost bin and a bottle of EM preparations.
The benefits of composted leaves
Burning the leaves and adding ashes to the soil is good, because it contains such nutrients like phosphorus, potassium and calcium, as well as many other trace elements, needed by plants for development.
But in wood ash there is not one single element without which it is impossible to grow a crop and healthy plant- nitrogen. When burned, it completely evaporates into the atmosphere.
Another way to use litter is to make compost from tree leaves. nutritional value such fertilizer is much higher. Firstly, because bacteria multiply in it, which then enter the soil and continue their work on the production of humic acids, which are completely absorbed by plants and restore the fertile layer.
Secondly, dry raw materials can be mixed with greens and return the lost nitrogen. As greenery, you can use weeds or green manure. Suitable beveled lawn grass.
Fallen leaf compost composition
Dry foliage is a carbon-containing component that turns into humus for a very long time if nitrogen in the form of greens or urea is not added to it. The main thing is to observe the correct proportions of the components: for each nitrogen part, 3 carbon parts must be added.
If only litter is used for composting, then leaf humus will ripen about 2 years old. When using various biodestructors - year. This is not beneficial as the fertilizer needs to be applied annually, or good harvest can hardly be expected.
To speed up the process, you need to collect leaves from the site - any. If an oak grows or coniferous trees, then their total number should not exceed 15% of the total mass. The fact is that these substances increase the acidity of the fertilizer. If there are a lot of them, then leaf humus will be unsuitable for many plants that prefer a neutral or slightly acidic environment.
Video: What to do with fallen leaves
There is a recipe that allows you to apply only oak leaves for composting, but it includes chicken manure, the pH of which is above 7 units. These two components balance each other, so the acidity in the leaf humus remains within acceptable limits.
Fertilizer preparation
Before preparing leaf humus, it is necessary to prepare raw materials:
- clear the area of weeds and demolish closer to the pile, where the components will be laid;
- inspect the tops vegetable plants for fungal diseases, if the greens are clean, then you can use it;
- if the lawn was recently mowed, then the grass is left in the sun for 2 to 3 days to dry. If lawn grass is the only nitrogen component, then it is laid without drying.
All components are crushed: the smaller, the better. For example, Western farmers use special devices - compost grinders. In our country, this role is most often performed by a shovel or pruner.
Variety of pile for composting foliage
It is advisable to make a collar for leaf humus with small holes, since the fine substrate will simply spill out of the box. It is better to use a plastic barrel for this, which must be fixed on the pipe and periodically rotated to mix the components.
If the issue of cooking speed is not acute, then an ordinary barrel will do, but you will need to shovel the contents manually - with a pitchfork.
How to compost faster
Most summer residents are interested in how to make leaf humus quickly before autumn is over. Answer: without accelerators it will not work. As biological additives, Baikal EM-1 or Radiance preparations are used. Perhaps in local stores you can find other biodestructors with a similar effect.
The solution is made according to the instructions and applied to each laid layer of ingredients:
- A layer of soil is laid at the bottom of the barrel about 20 cm. Watered with a solution of microorganisms.
- The next layer is the leaves. 20 - 30 cm and also shed a biological product.
- Next, the nitrogen component is grass, weeds or green manure layer of 10 cm.
- Priming 5 - 10 cm.
- Leaves again.
- The last layer, which covers all the components, should be ground.
After everything is stacked, the compost is left for 3 days. During this time, the processes of decomposition of organic matter by bacteria begin in the barrel. After 3 days, it is necessary to turn all the components over so that the microorganisms receive oxygen and continue to multiply and eat plant debris.
Next, you need to loosen the compost every other day, leaving the lid of the barrel open. The more air gets into the compost, the faster the bacteria will process the vegetation into leaf humus. Be sure to monitor the humidity so that the ingredients do not dry out, otherwise the microorganisms will work inefficiently.
When to use in the garden
2 - 3 weeks after laying the components at proper care fertilizer is ready. It should be Brown and it smells like earth. You can fertilize with leaf humus any crop. Usually the compost is dug up with top layer land in beds, under shrubs or fruit trees.
I have a friend Elena, she lives in Austria. Like us, gardeners in the post-Soviet space, she has a garden. Here is her recent letter: “Hi, look - interesting idea about leaf compost.
And gave me some links.
Leaf compost. Is it only one of them?
No, not only. When you plant the beds, you try to tear the grass with a root so that nothing remains in the ground, otherwise new greenery will grow from a piece of root, thicker and stronger than the previous one. Where to put the grass? Of course in .
It turns out that stems, roots with the remains of the soil, actually green leaves go into it. Branches of trees and shrubs do not lay. Kitchen waste too.
ripening time
Such a mixture in or a pit begins to rot, but the process is slow. Sometimes two or three years must pass before a new substance, similar to soil, is born from a pile of damp greenery. Is there time to wait? Is there extra space in the garden or garden for three compost heaps or boxes?
It is unlikely, because the area of an ordinary garden plot in Russia is 5-6 acres, on which so many things need to be placed. Here they throw out weed grass from the site.
Compost growth agent Biocompostin Happy summer resident, 45 g
97 rub
LOOK
seedspost.ru
Baikal EM-1(0,5l.) 157 rub
LOOK
Agrofirm Search
Baikal EM-1(0,1l.) 70 rub
LOOK
Agrofirm Search
Baikal EM-1 (0.25l.)
113 rub
LOOK
Agrofirm Search
How foreigners make compost from leaves
I don’t know who was the first inventor, but the idea was not only born, but also managed to take root. It turns out that the entire composting process can take exactly one week, and does not require additional space. Entertaining?Device for making compost from leaves
Of course, they read the title and thought that the device had to be taken somewhere. Do not take or buy, but build it yourself, from the materials that the owner likes the most or with which he knows how to work. It can be lumber, or it can be metal pipes. You can use fifty boards. It is also not difficult to buy barrels, and sometimes it is possible to receive it as a gift if it is not an exchange container. You can ask around the manufacturers of dietary supplements or dry herbal mixtures.
Pipes can be found at scrap metal collection points, from the same plumbers in housing offices, which are now called management companies. Yes, and a neighbor, making repairs in the bathroom, will not refuse to give you used pipes: after all, he needs to carry them to the garbage collector, and here you are ready to provide help - to take all this “good” for yourself.
I have already figured out what we can build such a device from: several years ago we brought a whole truckload of old pipes to our three families. Thank you plumbers for helping. Already managed to puzzle her husband with a new idea. Let's see how it comes to life for us.
And now - let's look. I offer you five videos, they are not in Russian, I don’t have a translation yet. But even so, everything is clear: what to do, how to do it, what kind of compost is obtained in a week.
The nuances of making a device with your own hands:
A definite plus is that it is convenient to rotate the container with a handle:
Making a device for composting from plastic barrel on a wooden frame:
You can install two barrels on one frame:
Power driven device:
Afterword... Or after-watch?
Looked? Did you see everything you wanted? Which version of the bed did you like more: made of wood or metal pipes? In general, at least something could surprise you? Have you noticed that after a week the compost is exactly the same as under normal conditions after 2 years? Did you understand what the hardest job just runs away from the gardener, if you use this method? That's right, teddying!Shoveling compost is the hardest thing, because throwing grass and leaves into a box or pit is not difficult. Therefore, gardeners usually store grass, but they forget to move it from place to place. 
Here, turning, shoveling, tedding is the main cooking method. But how easy it is physically to do everything! Yes, and myself nuclear reactor» easy to build!
What is good about this leaf and grass compost?
It does not have a single soil inhabitant. Essentially, it is a dead substance. After all, all processes occur with an increase in temperature, because earthworms, wood lice are likely to die. But it is precisely this compost that we need to grow seedlings or indoor flowers.
And we will be able to populate it with soil microflora. We will talk about this in one of the new articles.
You can compost in other ways, the choice is yours.
Making compost from leaves is easy. Here the main thing the right approach. Many people think that after the leaves have fallen, they are no longer suitable for anything, and they just need to be taken to a landfill. But is this true? Is there any benefit from fallen leaves? We will find out in our article.
If you are a real gardener, then you always look at your garden from a professional point of view. Leaves can always be thrown away. But how to make foliage beneficial?
Why do you need compost?
Compost from tree leaves is needed in order to retain moisture in the soil, improve the quality of the land and its composition. Bringing the leaves from planting to your garden, and putting them in a pile, you will provide yourself with humus for a long time. After all, it can be stored for a very long time.
If you have a lot of trees in your garden, then you will always be provided with raw materials for compost. If there are few or no trees in the garden, then you need to go to the forest or planting.
Using garden compost is very beneficial:
- The leaves contain a lot of organic matter so needed by the soil.
- Compost contains and minerals that enrich the soil.
- The composition of compost is very close to manure; nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium - all these elements nourish the earth and provide an excellent harvest.
In order to properly make compost from fallen leaves, you do not need special skills or skills. You just need to follow the recommendations:
1. First make a pile of leaves. This is necessary in order not to mix them with other vegetation residues in the garden. Foliage has its own specifics of decomposition. It takes two years for it to completely decompose and be used as compost.
The leaves of some trees need even more time, such as oak, chestnut. Other vegetation takes a year to decompose.
2. After the leaves are piled up, they must be compacted and moistened.
3. Add a small amount to the foliage already finished compost, as well as a little lime to balance the acid balance.
4. If you need compost for plants that prefer acidic soil, then you do not need to add lime.
6. Periodically look under the cover and, if necessary, moisten the pile.
7. Another option is to use plastic bags. Holes are made in them for ventilation, and after that the bags are densely filled with foliage.
Compost pit how to do it right
Some gardeners prepare compost using the compost pit method. How to make compost from leaves in this way?
1. Dig a hole thirty centimeters deep and about two and a half meters wide.
2. Make bedding at the bottom of the hole five centimeters thick.
3. Fold dry foliage in layers, watering it with saltpeter to moisten.
4. After laying ten centimeters of foliage, sprinkle it with turf to enrich it with microelements and microflora.
5. Pour the next layer of leaves and pour the liquid from the manure, you can add the earth from your garden.
6. The next leafy layer must be moistened using caustic soda. It is not a fertilizer, but it is good at extracting chlorophyll from the leaf.
7. Wood ash is poured onto the next layer of leaves, then leaves again, which are moistened with water.
8. Place a layer of straw or hay and water weak solution manganese (1 percent).
9. All this structure is covered with turf, which is laid down tightly with grass.
10. One month after laying the pit, open and loosen all layers for oxygen enrichment.
11. It is possible to use two holes: one for laying, and the second for loosening. You simply transfer the compost to the second hole, loosening the mixture in the process.
Benefits of dried leaves
It is worth noting that dry foliage is useful not only for compost. It is often used by gardeners for various purposes. For example, often gardeners use dry foliage in the preparation of beds.
If you mix the leaves with hay, then this mixture will provide heat to the root system of the plant and protect it from hypothermia. But this is done exclusively with dry leaves. Store them in crates or boxes indoors.
Also, dry foliage is used as a mulch for shrubs and fruitful trees. Mulch is also used in beds. AT compost pit dry foliage is used as bedding at the bottom.
Still very useful property dry leaf is to serve as a heater for plants that are planted for the winter. For example, garlic.
Having landed it in the beginning of autumn, garlic covered with dry foliage at the beginning of winter. Snow covers the foliage, and the plant safely tolerates any frost, and in the spring it pleases with a wonderful harvest.
So before throwing leaves from your garden, think about how useful this pile of leaves can do.
