Once you have swept up the leaves from your lawn (How to use a lawn sweeper) there are three things that you can do with your swept up leaves:
1. Bin them
2. Make compost from them
3. Make mulch from them
The first point is not really worth discussing, it seems wasteful to me to throw something away that could be made use of, so we’ll discuss the second two options here.
What’s the difference between compost and mulch?
It is true that mulch will eventually become compost, but compost is nutrient rich decomposed matter that feeds plants and should be dug in to the soil. Mulch on the other hand is partly decomposed bulkier matter. The purpose of mulch is to create a barrier between your soil and the elements. Effectively it is a layer insulation, similar to loft / attic insulation. This not only stabilises the temperature of your soil but it also acts as a weed suppressant. Over the course of the year it will break down and the nutrients will be passed on to your plant. The cycle can then begin again.
What do you need to do create leaf mulch?
You simply have to shred your leaves. Un-shredded leaves pack down quicker which mean they can’t trap as much air. Shredding your leaves prevents this and consequently makes better mulch. Some lawn sweepers feature a built in shredder.
If you have too many leaves you may need to create a holding bin or ‘mulch bin’ to keep your leaves separate from the compost bin.
How to create compost from leaves
Leaves should really be kept separate from your compose bin. They take a lot longer than most of the organic matter you would put in your bin. Some people call leaf compost, leaf mould, either way the best way to get something useful from you leaves is to create a leaf mould compost bin. This differs from your usually compost bin because it is best if it is open sided and the contents are exposed to the elements. The break down of the leaves is accelerated by exposure to the rain and frost. The simplest way to make a bin for your leaves is to take four posts, hammer them into the ground, put mesh around the four sides and pile in your leaves. You will then want to put something over the top, to prevent the blowing out and ending up where they started. Some people use an old piece of carpet.
Tags: compost, leaf, leaf mould, leafs, leaves, mulch
3 Comments
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Comment by Lawn Sweeper Features | Lawn Sweeper Info on March 22nd, 2010 @ 8:44 am[...] to put the leaves once you have collected them. If you’re running short of ideas check out the what to do with your collected leaves [...]
Comment by How To Use a Lawn Sweeper | Lawn Sweeper Info on March 22nd, 2010 @ 8:45 amLine and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
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Comment by Five Reasons to Sweep Up Leaves | Lawn Sweeper Info on July 1st, 2009 @ 7:49 am