From time immemorial, gardeners have realized that while compost is excellent for improving soil texture and adding nutrients to the soil, leaf mulch (often referred to as leaf mold and very easy to create) is the best soil amendment you can use for four reasons:
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a) Leaf mulch helps the soil hold onto its water thus protecting it from erosion and drought,
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b) It improves the structure of the soil,
c) It provides carbon, a much-needed ingredient in all good soil types, and
d) It is a fantastic home for earth worms and other beneficial bacteria.
The first autumn I started using fallen leaves as compost, I simply raked them up and, without shredding them, buried them right away in my garden. However the next spring when I rototilled my garden, I did notice that many of the leaves (especially where they had been buried in bunches) had not completely decomposed.
Not paying attention to this factor, I planted my garden anyway. To my chagrin, my vegetables did not grow that well. After researching the issue, I realized that in order for the leaf mulch to finish decomposing and become true compost, they needed nitrogen. In other words, the decomposing leaves were using the nitrogen meant for my growing veggies which, in turn, were suffering from this lack of sufficient nitrogen.
The following year I shredded the leaves a bit by going over them with my lawn mower before burying them in my garden. In the spring most of the leaves had almost totally decomposed, and my veggies were doing better. I then realized that the more I shredded the fallen leaves before digging them into my garden the faster this beneficial leaf mulch would decompose and create this beautiful amendment to my soil. Since then I have used different methods to shred my leaves.
So if you want to use your leaves as leaf mulch, here are seven shredding methods you can choose from. The first three methods require less work, but the decomposition takes longer (6 to 12 months). The last few methods will drastically speed up decomposition but does require more work (well worth it, I might add... and easy to do)
1. You can make leaf mulch by piling all the leaves in a corner of your yard and letting the worms gradually drag them under.. Better still, if you have a set up like my friend whose garden is bounded on three sides by a fence, you can spread your leaves all over the garden, wet them down and turn them over occasionally by shuffling your feet as you walk through them. Unless you have a super pileup of leaves, most of them should have disappeared by spring. This method is all right if you don't have that many leaves
2. A second way to create leaf mulch is to build a wire or wooden bin at least three feet square by three feet tall, pile your leaves into it, wet down the leaves with a hose, and when the pile is thoroughly moistened let it sit for the winter. The leaves will gradually break down.
3. A third method is to gather the leaves and store them in large plastic garbage bags. Fill each bag with leaves, moisten them thoroughly, and close the top of the bag. Since you are using a cold composting method, you may want to prevent anaerobic decomposition (which can be smelly) by cutting or puncturing slits in the bag to allow air to circulate inside the bag. (A garden fork works well). The next step is to pile up your bags somewhere where they are out of the way. One storage method is to drive four long 2x2 pieces of wood into the ground, two at one end and two at the other end of a small area of land and stock pile your bags filled with leaves between these 2x2 pieces of wood.
4. You can also create leaf mulch by using a grass trimmer and a big garbage can to shred your leaves. As you gather your leaves, you begin by putting an armful or so in a big garbage can and run your trimmer through that until you're satisfied the leaves have been broken down enough for you. Then add a second armful of leaves on top of the first lot and use your trimmer again. Every so often you can empty your shredded leaves in a big bag or a bin as mentioned above. Keep repeating the procedure until all the leaves have been shredded. See the video which explains the procedure of shredding with a grass trimmer and a large garbage can.
5. A variation of the number 4 method to shred your leaves as a way to speed up decomposition is to use a mulching lawn mower. If you have a thick blanket of leaves on the ground, you begin by spreading them so your lawn mower does not choke up on you. Then you run over your leaves a few times with your mower in order to shred your leaves. To finish, you either gather the shredded leaves with a rake and put them into a bin or leave them on the ground to decompose. If your lawn mower can be equipped with a bag, then you can collect your shredded leaves more quickly and more easily. The only hard part is to empty the bag every so often.
6. My favorite method when creating leaf mulch was to gather up the fallen leaves with a handheld electric blower/vacuum. When shredding leaves in order to create leaf mulch, I would set up the blower in such a way that the leaves would be swept up and blown into a bag. As it would go through the system, all the leaves would be shredded many times over. The overall bulk of leaves would be reduced tremendously and the decomposition would not take as long. I would then empty the bag of shredded leaves into big garbage bags until I had time to shred them further (No 5). Some of these bags of leaves would be stored near my compost bins so that I could add some brown matter to my compost bin in the winter time while others would end up as winter mulch around my roses.
7. To further break down the leaves into extremely fine pieces, you can use a leaf eater through which you would run the already shredded leaves in the bags (No 4). This seventh method of requires more work, but the resulting tiny, tiny pieces of broken down leaf was well worth the extra work. This leaf mulch could be used to mulch overwintering plants to protect them against extreme cold in the winter. In the spring, this mulch will break down into a brown humus which can then be worked into the soil. I never lost a rose to frost or bitter cold.
If you notice, when leaves fall in a wooded area, the leaf mulch has turned to a dark brown to black soil which has a beautiful earthy smell and a crumbly texture. People who understand cold composting and recognize the value of the leaf mulch will go to wooded areas and gather up this black soil and mix it with their garden soil as soil amendment while others will use fallen leaves, shred them, and make leaf mulch which can then be used to supercharge their soil.
Creating Leaf Mulch
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