Unlike the name sounds, leaf mold is actually a good thing. Making a Leaf Mold Bin Leaf boards are simply two rectangular pieces of plywood or plastic, which allow larger volumes to be picked up effectively with the hands. I love this time of year! Leaf mold is more of an additive to your soil. Dry leaves lack nitrogen, and instead are broken down by mostly fungi, thus the name leaf mold. A leaf shredder is a great way to speed up leaf mold. Leaf mold, by contrast, is very low in nutrients and designed by nature to decay slowly (e.g., on the forest floor over many years). Use to water your contaminated plant thoroughly. This is ideal for smaller yards. It’s quite hard-working, and adds a lot to your soil. Leaf mold is simply decomposed leaf matter. Typically 1-3 years is the standard completion time. We’ve reviewed our favorites here. When applied to the soil surface as mulch, leaf mold prevents extreme fluctuations in soil temperature, keeps the soil surface loose so water penetrates easily, and retains soil moisture by slowing water evaporation. It is a common misconception that mold leaf is a type of compost. Kill mold in soil by flushing the soil with antifungal neem oil. … People who hate fall leaf clean up are your friend! Wait until the soil dries before watering again. Works as a fantastic mulch for your garden. When added to sandy or clay soils, soil structure and texture are also greatly improved. That’s it! They stayed piled up until spring. There are many simple and easy to use leaf shredders on the market. Great for hot climates with soil that dries out easily. The process can take anywhere from 1-3 years, dependent upon several factors we’ll go over shortly. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Over time, annual applications of leaf mold mulch can significantly improve the quality of your soil and increase in beneficial soil … If you’re impatient like me, here are some tips to speed up your leaf mold efforts. Leaf mold can’t provide as many nutrients and elements to the soil as garden compost. Leaf mold is great for retaining moisture in your soil as it holds 500 percent of its own weight in water. I place a thin layer of compost on the ground around the tree as fertilizer. Leaf mold is a fantastic soil amendment for your garden, and it’s really the only amendment you’re likely to need. There are always people who would be more than willing to drop bags of leaves off with you or let you come and rake some up. In fact, leaf mold doesn't really offer very many nutrients but conditions the soil. Leaf mold adds valuable organic matter to the soil. About Leaf Mold Compost. Well, this rich leaf mold increases the ability of soil to retain water. This quality alone brings several fantastic benefits to your garden. It’s now ready to be added to the garden. Oak leaves still work well for leaf mold but may take slightly longer to fully break down.  Leaves of black walnut and eucalyptus trees contain a natural herbicide that can prevent seed germination so they should be used sparingly or not at all. The air is milder and has a distinctive coolness now. It is a decayed form of ordinary leaves. The material will turn even horrid soil into beautiful, fertile loam. Mix two teaspoons of neem oil, one teaspoon of dish soap, and half a gallon (2 l) of water. Where leaf mold really shines is in adding organic matter … Leaf mold is one of the best mulches or soil conditioners that you can make. More details: Leaf mold (or “mould”) is the light, fluffy, rich, and crumbly result of decomposed leaves. That will ensure you get leaf mold quickly. I put leaves in garbage bags in the fall, added some water and seal them up. Just ask your neighbors! Leaf mold is a soil amendment that can be used in containers, potting soil mixes, seed starting, raised beds and in ground gardens. Leaf mold absorbs five times its weight in water. It absorbs rainwater to reduce runoff, and in hot weather, it helps cool roots and foliage. This natural soil conditioner improves water-holding capacity, enhances soil structure (and therefore water and air movement within the soil), and provide habitat for the soil’s micro– and macro– organisms. Probably the best and most effective way to speed up your leaf mold is to shred the  leaves. Asian Garden Statues-Stunning Designs for Asian Inspired Beauty, Tips for Choosing the Right Composter Style, Germinating Seeds Indoors (Part-1)-Supplies You’ll Need, Three ways to start a backyard veggie garden, Build a cheap, easy raised garden bed with these common materials. Leaf mold is a form of compost produced by the breakdown of shrub and tree leaves.. Due to the slow decaying nature of their lignin (cellulose) content, autumn leaves break down far more slowly than most other compost ingredients, and therefore should be composted separately. After logging in you can close it and return to this page. You don’t want too much moisture directly on the stems due to rotting concerns. Although it may take longer than traditional compost, the finished leaf mold is definitely worth it. Ideally you want a good mix of many types of leave for the best results. There’s also the whole, it’s absolutely free thing! Compost contains a much larger amount of nutrients that are essential … There are a few slightly different methods. You’ll have perfect rich crumbly garden gold already bagged up and ready to go wherever you need it. I place a layer of leaf mold compost (1″-2″) over my garden in the fall to feed next year’s crop and also to smother weeds. Leaf mold is essentially a soil conditioner. Anyone can easily make leaf mold! As the litterfall is consumed by the decomposer food web, water and inorganic nutrients (i.e. It doesn’t give much in the way of nutrition, but it does wonders with helping your soil hold water longer. Use it as mulch or incorporate it into the soil, or both. This is some leaf mold that I have been making for about a year. This means that the soil retains water better, often over 50 percent better water retention than soil without leaf mold. For that reason, leaf mold makes an excellent mulch. A compost aerator like this one can help keep your leaf pile supplied with oxygen and moisture to speed decomposition. A pile of dry leaves will take much longer to break down. This will also help to evenly distribute moisture. Fall is the perfect time of year to gather a plentiful, free, and organic friendly material to improve your garden. Check on your leaves occasionally and if they seem dry, simply give them a bit of water. This could include grass clippings, kitchen scraps, or manure. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new articles with helpful gardening tips and tricks straight to your email inbox. As leaves decompose, they turn in a crumbly and rich soil amendment. Just a couple seasons of that, and you’ll have the garden soil of your dreams! However, it can add to soil structure and it increases the ability of the soil to retain water. Hearing the word mold  is usually all bad, but leaf mold is actually one of the greatest soil conditioners you’ll ever use. Shredding keeps the leaves from clumping together and increases the surface area for fungi to do their work and speed up the decomposition process. And any leaf mold not used in your garden makes a … There’s garden gold falling from those trees, so don’t let it go to waste. Use a neem oil solution to flush the soil and kill off mold in the soil. Leaf mold also makes a great mulch due to its ability to hold in moisture around plants. The added nitrogen will super charge the rate of decomposition for the leaves just as it does for a compost pile. Squash will grow in a manure pile. All Rights Reserved. Check out our homemade potting soil mix and substitute leaf mold for compost. Throw them somewhere out of the way like a shed or garage and let them sit for a year or two. Think of a forest floor with years of fallen leaves decaying over time to produce a loamy black soil. Certain leaves are better than others for making leaf mold. It can be used: As a mulch to keep down weeds and reduce moisture evaporation from the soil. Leaf mold makes an easy excellent source of the “brown” material to have a compost pile that is balanced and more productive. Leaf mold and manure is a good medium for them. Build your leaf pile in a shaded area to keep in moisture. Spray piles or bags of leaves with a garden hose until damp. Leaf mold also makes a great mulch due to its ability to hold in moisture around plants. Leaf mold can be used as a soil conditioner or as mulch in vegetable gardens and other planting beds. Turned into hard and clay soils, it will help make them more friable and root-friendly while maintaining good moisture levels. 4) By using leaves as a mulch, you are helping the environment. The difference between leaf mold and compost is compost is a nutritious element for your garden and is great for your soil too. Just make a few passes, rake them up, and throw them on your pile. Leaf mold doesn’t feed the soil as much as compost does, so you will still need to provide compost and other organic fertilizers to your plants. It might be too rich for a few other … By changing the structure of your soil by adding leaf mold will: Improve water retention while … This can be achieved either by placing … This makes great leaf mold for the garden. During a hot weather condition, a 3 to the 4-inch mulch of leaf mold can cooler soil inside about 3-4° F than the surface temperature. Leaf mold is not as rich in nutrient value as completely composted leaves but it is easier and quicker to make. Leaf mold is not high in nutrient content but is an excellent humic soil conditioner because its structure and moisture retention provide a good growing medium for seedling roots. Previous post: Beginners Guide to Composting-How To Easily Start Composting Today! Leaf mold is a great addition to your garden because it helps retain moisture in the soil. Compost is also a great tree fertilizer for small trees as they get established. However you choose to do it, leaf mold is an invaluable resource in the garden. By improving soil structure, it also encourages beneficial bacteria and home to … layer around shrubs, trees, in flower beds and gardens, or any spot that will benefit from a biodegradable covering or … Poke some hole all around the bags for proper ventilation. Using leaf mold as a soil amendment is a common and productive practice. Then, proceed to remove the mold from the actual plant. Benefits of adding leaf mold to our soil for gardening and landscaping? Leaf mold creates the perfect environment for microbes and other beneficial organisms such as earth worms. Other than the cost of a black garbage bag and a few sore back muscles, leaf mold is free and ridiculously … Leaf mold also stimulates biological activity in the soil, creating a microbial environment that helps thwart pests. This means a giant pile of leaves can be reduce down to a few handfuls. A wire enclosure keeps leaves neat and contained. Nature makes leaf mold on auto-pilot all around you even though you may not have noticed. I told you it was easy. It’s one of the best way to improve garden soil, is organic friendly, and absolutely free to do. I have read a lot on this forum about substituting leaf mold as a substitute in potting mix - like 1 part topsoil, 1 part compost, 1 part leaf mold. Although lacking any significant amount of nutrients, leaf mold contains many beneficial trace minerals that are mined from deep underground by tree roots and transferred to the leaves. In that case, leaf mold plays an important role to turn a bad soil structure into a suitable one for cultivation when added to the soil. Provides necessary minerals for your garden. Posts may contain affiliate links, which allow me to earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Leaves are gathered up and set aside until they are broken down into what’s basically a leaf compost. How To Use Your Leaf Mold Compost. Please log in again. It provides optimum development for your plant's roots and retains just enough moisture. One way to shred the leaves is running over them with a lawnmower. Mold is not an exact compost. Just grab a handful of soil from a heavily wooded area to see an example of this rich mixture. Perhaps the best part of all will convince you more. Just make sure the leaf pile is big enough to retain moisture and heat. It increases the water retention of soils. All you have to do is look in an area with a lot of trees. And it costs absolutely nothing. Moisten the leaves slightly and tie up the bags. Ideal for acid-loving plants, like Blueberries and Azaleas, and other garden or potted plants. However, as the leaves break down into leaf mold, the pH goes up into more a … You can wipe the plant down with a damp kitchen towel or cloth a few times until there is no sign of mold on the plant. Leaf mold also improves soil structure and provides a fantastic habitat for soil life, including earthworms and beneficial … Here’s how it’s done. Shredded leaves will turn into leaf mold much quicker than ones left whole. Cucurbits love very rich soil. A composters best friend is a pile of leaf mold! Spread a three-inch (7.5 cm.) Leaf mold enriches and fertilizes the soil and encourages the development of fibrous roots. If you want to be a bit more organized, you can throw your leaves into a wire or wood enclosure just as you would a normal compost pile.  This will keep your leaf pile more compacted which speeds up the decomposition process. As a carbon-rich material, adding it to your garden will result in an increase in the organic material in your soil. Mix the leaf mold into the top 4-10 inches of soil in your garden to greatly improve the structure and texture of sandy and clay soils.  Just a couple seasons of that, and you’ll have the garden soil of your dreams! You may have seen this whitish “mold” under leaves and thought poorly of it. With a leaf shredder you can shred leaves directly into your trash bags or bins for quick and convenient leaf mold. Leaves that are shredded also take up much less space. Leaf mold is more of a soil amendment. Your purchase through the links helps me create content like this post, But leaf mold is only one of several great uses for fall leaves, a ratio of 30:1 – 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen, Increasing your soil’s water holding capacity and structure will greatly reduce the amount of watering you need to do, help keep your garden pests under control, Leaf mold also works as a great mulch for your garden soil, I’m always collecting fall leaves and applying them to my growing areas, 3 Common Practices to Avoid if You Want to Support Wildlife. Some leaves such as oak contain more lignin which causes them to decompose at a much slower rate. Gather up some leaves and stuff them into large trash bags. 3) The layer of leaves protect and feed organisms including earthworms. Nitrogen is the ingredient that gets compost piles cooking, as bacteria breaks down food scraps. Three or four feet high is usually plenty. Leaf mold is great stuff! Leaves are turning bright orange, yellow and red while falling by the bushel. Speaking of horrid soil…when we … Most leaves are slightly acidic when they fall, with a pH below 6. Leaves collected from roads and pavements may be contaminated by pollutants which can become more concentrated as the leaves decompose into a … What is leaf mold? Finished leaf mold is light brown color, has a nice crumbly texture and a great earthy smell. What is Leaf Mould? Mix it into potting soil for added aeration and water retention. Mix it into the top layer or use 3-4 inches as a mulch. In fact, leaf mold can hold up to 500% of its own weight in water! Beginners Guide to Composting-How To Easily Start Composting Today! Being in full, direct sunlight will make it difficult to keep the moisture needed for fast decomposition. Keep your leaves moist. Use a pitchfork or compost aerator occasionally, to give the leaf pile the needed oxygen for decomposition. Leaf mold can retain up to 5X its weight in water. Another option is a leaf shredder. Use for mulching. The login page will open in a new tab. For use in a potting mix to grow your plants in containers. I have also heard before however that annuals (pioneer plants in general) prefer more bacterial-rich soil, rather than fungal soil - perennials prefer fungal soil. Leaf mould is easy to use slow-release organic fertilizer. Mold is usually only found on the surface of the soil, so you can gently scoop the top layer of the contaminated soil out of the pot. Place the enclosure in an area that you plan on collecting the most leaves. Spread it liberally around plants but keep it off of the stems due the amount of water it holds. A pile left alone without anything else done to it will be closer to the 3 year mark. Leaf mold’s ability to hold water is great for your garden and also helps reduce stormwater runoff from your property. This creates a thriving, and very much alive garden soil. A little helps but don’t add too much or you’ll end up with a smelly anaerobic mess. nitrogen and phosphorus) are released into the soil, where they can be taken up again by plants … So, the bacteria and fungi don’t get quite as excited by it as they do nutrient-rich compost. If you don’t have a good shaded area you can just throw a tarp or sheet of plastic over your leaves. It Adds Water and Air. If the compost pile is getting smelly or soupy it’s probably time to add in some brown carbon rich material. 2) Leaf Mold improves soil fertility which means it provides nutrients to the soil and improves soil structure so it will become nice and loose over time. Mix the leaf mold into the top 4-10 inches of soil in your garden to greatly improve the structure and texture of sandy and clay soils. It’s easy to make, free, and one of the best ways to improve your garden soil to legendary status. Leaves are high in carbon which means they will take a long time to decompose. It opens up the soil and makes it friable—that is loose and crumbly and easily penetrated by roots and water. It decomposes slowly and adds nutrients gradually to feed plants and improve the soil structure. Here’s how you can easily use those Fall leaves for a more successful garden. Leaf mold is decomposed leaves. Even if you don’t have leaves in your yard don’t let that deter you. As leaves fall every year, layers and layers of leaf mold are created, building up the soil structure in these areas. Furthermore, it provides a habitat for soil life, such as earthworms and beneficial bacteria. It only takes a quick look at this stuff and it’s rich texture to reassure you that it will take your garden soil to the next level. With proper conditions, shredded leaves can be fully decomposed in as little as 3-6 months! In my area cooler means 80 degrees instead of 90 or 100 but I’ll take it nonetheless. Maple, sweet gum, poplar, dogwood,  elm, pecan, and fruit tree leaves are all good choices. The final leaf mold method is my personal favorite. Download: … The pile sits for about a year, and when it's finished you have the perfect amendment for vegetable and flower gardens, as well as a fantastic addition to potting soils . Acid loving plants love Oak Leaf Mold. It is best known for its ability as soil conditioners. Layer in some material high in nitrogen with your leaf pile. One of the most appealing things about leaf mold is that it’s super easy to make. Leaf mold is a wonderful soil amendment that is made from nothing more than fall leaves with the occasional layer of garden soil or finished compost added. While compost is an amazing resource for building soil fertility and structure, leaf mold is far better as a soil amendment. Most shredders reduce leaves to 1/10 their original size. Collect leaves from the lawn using a rotary mower, as this not only shreds the leaves and hastens rotting but also adds grass clippings, so increasing the nutrient value of the leafmould. Next post: Overwinter Peppers Indoors-Don’t Let Your Plants Die Young! Fall is definitely upon us now! Trash bags work well because they keep the leaves super compact and the plastic material holds in moisture. The most simple method is to rake up your leaves into a giant pile and let them sit. Remember leaf mold retains water at rate of 500% of its own weight so it makes a great alternative to peat moss. Increases the water holding capacity of the soil. Leaf mold is the soft, cushiony later found naturally in the forest just above the soil. Overwinter Peppers Indoors-Don’t Let Your Plants Die Young! This way, it provides a good habitat for soil life such as beneficial bacteria and earthworms. That is comparable or even better than peat moss. Yimby Compost Tumbler Review-A Great Composter for Beginners! As a soil conditioner, to add fertility to your growing areas. I’m off to rake up some leaves right now! Leaf Mold-The Absolute Easiest Way to Improve Garden Soil, Gardening Gadgets & More-Best Christmas Gifts for Gardeners 2017. You can compare Oak Leaf Mold like the perfect conditioner for your hair, but in your soil. Leaf mold is very versatile and can be used all throughout the garden. And leaf mold, as every forest knows, is the best soil amendment on earth! WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF LEAF MOLD FOR MY GARDEN? Leaf compost has the same benefits as leaf mold (builds soil structure, retains water, and improves soil life) in addition to two other important benefits: Contains essential nutrients – this is the main difference between leaf mold and leaf compost. Besides helping retain moisture in the soil by reducing evaporation, leaf mold also absorbs rainwater to reduce runoff, and in hot weather, it helps cool roots and foliage. How To Make Southern Pepper Sauce-Use Those Extra Garden Peppers! Actually it is a decayed form of the leaf by the action of fungi. According to some university studies, the addition of leaf mold increased water retention in soils by over 50 percent. In fact, most people consider leaf mold as a soil conditioner rather than a fertility source. Ll have the garden soil of your dreams they seem dry, simply give a. Fantastic benefits to your soil pecan, and fruit tree leaves are high in with... Mold also makes a great addition to your garden soil for added aeration and water in. Die Young coolness now 's roots and water retention than soil without leaf mold grass clippings, scraps. To 5X its weight in water mold increases the ability of soil from a heavily wooded area to see example. 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