Leaf humus contains almost no nutrients, so cannot be used as fertilizer. Advantages humus lie in its soil-conditioning properties. Soil generously fertilized humus, retains moisture at the roots of plants longer, helping them survive the summer drought and saving the gardener time, labor and money. Humus - favorite place habitat of earthworms, great helpers for the gardener. Semi-finished humus makes an excellent addition to garden compost. Using fallen leaves for making humus, you won’t have to burn them, poisoning yourself and your neighbors with acrid smoke. If you care environment, then plant acidophiles (plants that love acidic soil) in the mixture soil with humus and refuse to use store-bought peat, which is extracted from unique natural peat bogs.
Collecting leaves for leaf humus
In flower beds, among shrubs or other plantings collect leaves can be done using special hand fan rakes that do not damage neighboring plants. On a small lawn or other open space, use a lawn fan rake. The benefits of "old fashioned" hand assembled are that you can work in wet weather, which is not at all uncommon in the fall. Wet leaves are preferable for leaf humus, because they undergo the decomposition process faster.
On patios and other flat surfaces, use a broom or a special garden vacuum cleaner that has two modes to collect leaves. By blowing air, it will help gather the fallen leaves into a pile. By drawing air into itself, it will collect the leaves in a special bag, having previously crushed them. On large lawns, it is most convenient to use a lawn mower to collect leaves, setting the blades to the highest possible height.
The advantage of using a lawn mower and vacuum cleaner is that the leaves are shredded and collected in one place (a bag or basket), saving the gardener a lot of time and physical effort. Shredded leaves decompose much faster and turn into humus. However, working with them also has its limitations: the equipment can only be used in dry weather; they do not work as effectively with wet leaves; Collection of leaves with a lawn mower must be carried out regularly to prevent them from accumulating.
Preparation of leaf humus
The collected leaves should be moistened, laid tightly and compacted. You can use the following:
- Special leaf structures (four wooden pegs covered with metal chicken wire), 1m x 1m or larger with open top
- Thick plastic bags for garden waste. Pierce the bags filled with wet leaves in several places; the top can be slightly twisted or even left open.
- Special bags for preparing leaf humus(sold in garden centers), see photo below.
Bags for preparing 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 needed
Fungal cultures that decompose leaves and turn them into humus require almost no oxygen (this is one of the significant differences from preparing garden compost), but is required high humidity. Mixing leaves with green grass clippings also speeds up the process.
Now all that remains is to be patient and wait. As in the situation with the production of garden compost, it is difficult to wait only in the first year. And when the process is already established, then during laying new party Last year's leaves are already ready for pre-winter mulching and other autumn work in the garden.
Which leaves should I use for leaf mold? In fact, any. However, remember that the decomposition time of the leaves depends on the type of tree. Quickly (within a year) subject to compliance the right conditions The leaves of most deciduous trees decompose: birch, oak, maple, hawthorn, rowan, hornbeam, hazel. The decomposition of evergreen leaves and pine needles can take 2-3 years; it is especially recommended to chop such leaves in a garden vacuum cleaner, lawn mower or shredder.
Using leaf humus
Young leaf humus is ready in 0.5 - 2 years, depending on the quality of preparation and tree species. In young humus, in addition to dark, homogeneous soil, the skeletons of leaves are clearly visible, sometimes whole leaves and small sticks are found. Such humus can be added to the soil on the site, in
In autumn, a lot of fallen leaves accumulate in the garden. But do not rush to burn them, of course, if they are not infected with 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 are not lucky in this regard. They are only said to contain chlorophyll and, through the process of photosynthesis, provide carbohydrates and other nutrients to the entire plant. Well, as for already fallen tree leaves, most publications believe that they are no longer suitable or needed, since they have no nutrients and are not a fertilizer.
This means that the amateur gardener concludes that the fallen leaf should be taken to a landfill, which is what is done in the city. What will happen to tree roots without this protective layer? Are autumn leaves really so useless?
Read also: Fallen leaves or triple benefits from fallen leaves
Flower growers were the first to talk about the use of leaf humus. And it's clear why. The moisture capacity of the soil increases and its structure and mechanical composition improve. Is this only necessary for flower growers? If you bring leaf litter from the forest, or even take it from your own plot and just put it in a heap, it will be stored for a long time without rotting.
Forest leaf litter is another matter. This, in fact, is where 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-rotten leaves, capturing a little of the top layer of soil. Usually this layer already consists of leaf humus. This composition has an acidic soil solution. I put all the prepared mass into spherical hemispherical piles and compact it a little.
The readiness of leaf humus is determined by appearance and smell (a purely forest smell appears, and not a putrid smell). Such humus can be added to the soil as a loosening and fertilizing material. Forest litter prepared as humus or compost is especially good for clay soil.
How do I prepare this compost component?
I water the pile with slurry, a solution of fermented herbs, and you can also add feces, as recommended. But I don’t add the latter for sanitary and hygienic reasons. For such short term, which I set aside for preparing compost - 8 months; helminths, if they are there, will not have time to be disinfected and will get into the soil. Also, it seems to me, we need to pay attention to the preparation of prefabricated compost, where the conditions are different, and so are the preparation times.
We are talking about a fallen leaf, but it is added to the prefabricated compost and fruit trees and shrubs, only if the leaves are healthy and not damaged by pests and diseases.
Affected leaves should be burned or removed from the garden plot further away, where they will be disinfected naturally.
This applies not only to leaves from trees, but also to vegetable and other herbal leaves, which are also added to the compost, but in a healthy form, without rot, pests, or diseases. In prefabricated compost, leaves contribute to better aeration, moisture retention and act as a ripper. But to speed up the maturation of the compost, the leaves must be added in crushed form.
Otherwise, the leaves of a tree such as aspen stick together in plates and are stored in this form for years. It is best to add birch and linden leaves, which do not need to be chopped. Dry leaves are used not only for compost, but also as a component in the construction warm beds, where, in a mixture with straw, hay, and grass residues, it helps generate heat for plant roots, and also serves as a protective layer from the dank, cold layer of soil. To do this, I collect dry leaves in dry weather and store them in closed containers until spring. In particular, they are stored in barrels under a canopy and in cans.
I also use the dry leaf as a mulching material for tree trunk circles fruit trees and shrubs, as well as vegetable beds. Including as a protective layer, and therefore, plant roots from frost and drying out of the soil. The soil under the leaf is always moderately moist.
Now it's time autumn period plant life. This year, the leaves of birch, linden, rowan and other plants are the first to turn yellow and fall. Next, massive leaf fall will begin. Dry leaves are used along with dry peat and crushed straw as bedding material in a layer of up to 30 cm, which absorbs liquid well when preparing a site for preparing any compost.
I tested the dry leaves for their suitability as an insulating and at the same time aerosive material for winter garlic, planted at the end of September - the first ten days of October. On the bed with planted garlic, I pour a layer of 5-10 cm of dry birch leaves and cover it with spruce branches or raspberry stems, 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 where winter garlic, planted to a depth of 8-10 cm, it froze for me. In the spring, with the removal of cover, it actively grows and produces good large bulbs.
Over the years of gardening, I have developed the following technology:
Considering the possibility of compost freezing, I prepare the latter in shallow pits.
The depth of the pit is 30 cm, width is 2.5 m. Experience has shown that the process of rotting and fermentation in the pit does not stop in winter. Now I'm already taking care of preparing the compost for at the right time. Deadlines are at the forefront of my mind. And microorganisms, bacteria, flea beetles, fungi, worms and other living creatures in the soil will figure out for themselves what to do with this organic matter and plant food. This is noticeable in trial, test beds. Plants vegetate more actively than in ordinary ones.
So, having provided a five-centimeter bedding layer in the hole, I lay in layers moistened with a solution of nitrate or urea (urea) dry leaves of deciduous trees (except oak, which rot poorly and contain tannins). For every 10-centimeter 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 and the macro- and microelements it contains, also introduce soil microflora into the leaf layer.
Next comes the next layer of bulk leaves. Here we already moisten it with slurry or a solution of fermented grass. You can add a solution of fertile garden soil from your site. Next is the next layer of leaves, which we will moisten with a solution of caustic soda.
Caustic soda itself is not a fertilizer, but caustic helps extract chlorophyll from leaves. Then the next layer - the solution is added 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, and moistened with a 1% solution of potassium permanganate.
The compost pit is covered with 20x10 cm sods, laid tightly to each other on top of the heap, with the grass cover facing down. Then I install two vertical tubes to the middle of the pile - for air and humidification of the pile, then I take them out and fill the holes.
I have two of these holes. One is where the components are assembled. The other is where the composition is shoveled. I shovel it about a month after placing all the material in the first pile. This must be done to loosen the compost, and therefore improve aeration, for better mixing of the composition of the heap.
Therefore I had to give up classical forms composters and move to heap forms. In addition to other advantages, I consider the main thing for me to be convenience and ease of shoveling (after all, age and strength are no longer the same) in shoveling itself. After this, the compost is ready and can be added to the soil.
I. Krivega. Material from the weekly newspaper "GARDENER"
Video: Compost from fallen leaves
Among the abundance of modern fertilizers, gardeners prefer the constant classics - natural organic matter, positive action which has been tested by more than one generation of predecessors. Fallen leaves occupy a special place among such fertilizers. This natural organic matter does not require capital investment, and in terms of impact it is equal to bird droppings and mullein.
Foliage as fertilizer
Fallen leaves are rightfully considered a storehouse of fiber and a free source of a rather rare microelement - silicon.
By rotting, deciduous raw materials turn into valuable organic fertilizer, for which gardeners value it. Earthworms They also love to settle in rotting foliage. Gardeners use fallen leaves specifically for breeding worms and other useful living creatures on their plots.
Humus based on leaves is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. In terms of the quantitative composition of these macroelements, it is equal to cow manure. In addition, leaf humus perfectly mulches the soil, and is also a natural acidifier - an essential component of the normal growth and development of acidophilic plants.
If there are a lot of trees on the site, then leaf litter can be successfully used for feeding garden crops. Thus, alder is considered the most valuable in terms of the content of nutrients; birch and maple are slightly inferior to it.
Can it be used?
Feeding based on fallen leaves contains not only the main macroelements (nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus), but also essential microelements: iron and magnesium, silicon, calcium and sulfur.
All these components are extremely important not only for garden crops, but also for the soil. Leaf litter perfectly loosens the soil and improves air and water permeability. In addition, earthworms love to huddle in it - useful and hardworking inhabitants of personal plots.
Positive properties:
- fertilizes the soil.
- serves as a natural covering material that protects plants from freezing in winter.
- fallen leaves, reheating, improve the structure of the soil.
- serves as food for earthworms.
Negative properties:
- over-rotted foliage is a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria and pests.
- it is difficult to see and eliminate all infected leaves. If this is not done, leaf humus will become a real breeding ground for diseases.
How to prepare fertilizer?
There are many ways to prepare high-quality organic matter from fallen leaves, but most often gardeners make humus, compost, mulch and ash from it.
Humus
To prepare high-quality leaf humus, the raw materials are collected and placed in a container (you can use old barrel) and compacted. There is no need to close it. If there is no suitable container, the leaves are placed in thick bags, not forgetting to make small holes in several places. Garden stores sell special bags for creating humus. Containers (or bags) with foliage are placed in the most moist corner of the site. The humus will be ready for use in about a year or two. In 2-3 years it will turn into real humus.
Compost
Its manufacture requires following certain rules. It is worth considering the rate of decay of foliage different types trees. For example, oak leaves decompose more slowly than birch and linden leaves.
To speed up the overheating of the foliage, it should be stirred regularly, increasing air access. Or prepare a nitrogen-containing solution for irrigation, which accelerates the decomposition processes.
If the foliage was not removed in winter, this is done in the spring. Organic waste should not be burned or thrown away. He is sent to compost heap. This raw material will decompose faster, since it has already been under the snow and mixed in the soil. In addition, microorganisms have already settled there, accelerating overheating.
Compost is prepared in a heap or pit. After it is completely overheated, the most valuable organic fertilizer is applied to berry fields, flowers, and fruit trees.
Ash
If there are doubts about the quality of sheet raw materials, then it is wiser to dry and burn it. Fire will destroy all diseases, as well as pests at different stages of development. When the leaves burn, hydrocarbon, oxygen and nitrogen disappear, leaving: 25% calcium, 15% potassium, 4% phosphorus, a small amount of magnesium and iron, zinc and sulfur, manganese and boron, copper and strontium.
A significant calcium content turns ash into a valuable deoxidizer, which is necessary for many garden and vegetable crops. Potassium in the ash is in a form that is easy for plants to absorb. This mineral fertilizer is applied before digging up the garden (up to 300 g per sq. m.), and is also poured into holes during planting and when forming compost heaps.
Mulch
Fallen leaves are also used as natural mulch. To do this, in the autumn, wet biomaterial is laid out on the ground. It prevents the growth of weeds, protects the soil from freezing, weathering, and evaporation of nutrients.
In addition, mulch blocks Sun rays. This is especially true for aluminas, which are subject to inevitable corking. In the spring, the leaves are raked and placed in a compost heap or buried in the ground when digging.
For the first few years, mulched beds will need nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Manure or slurry is perfect. But from making mineral fertilizers It is better to refuse, as they will have a detrimental effect on the activity of earthworms.
Note. With the advent of natural humus, there is no need for any other fertilizers.
Fallen leaves serve as high-quality insulation, which will help roses, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, and other berries to successfully overwinter. Beneficial microorganisms, earthworms, which improve the structure of the soil and accelerate the process of decomposition of organic matter, overwinter well in mulch.
Large foliage of chestnut or maple is best suited for winter shelter. Smaller biomaterial strongly cakes and blocks the access of oxygen, which is undesirable for plants.
