compost leaves without shredding

10:01 . When it goes out of the composter, the wood is still not completely broken down. If you want to make good compost from leaves fast, then shredding is a must! Shredding leaves before adding them to the pile is a must! Throw the leaves from the driveway, beds etc. Most of the ways I use leaves require shredding, and that involves some kind of shredder. Leaves get raked around the base of fruit trees where we mulch with chips/compost etc anyway or raked into huge piles tucked under the trees somewhere. Tub grinders and manure spreaders have been successfully used to shred leaves as well as to break open biodegradable paper collection bags. Really good compost requires layering green material with brown material at a ratio of about 1-to-20. Clean It Up If leaf mowing results in a layer of shredded leaves so thick that you can't see the grass, you need to rake them up or collect them in your mower's grass-catching attachment. Best Built Chipper Mulcher Shredder in Australia Red Roo CMS100 - Duration: 3:00. And as you probably know, good composting requires a balanced mix of both. To find the answer, let’s look at the biology of compost. That was spurred by a listener, who was kind of happy and sad at the same time. Without a source of nitrogen, leaves will not become compost but instead become leaf mold, a valuable soil addition in terms of drainage and water-holding capability, but not as valuable as mineral-rich compost. veena says: December 7, 2011 at 4:09 pm. Even blackberry briars go in without handling! I compost all the dry leaves in my premises. Shredding increases the surface area that the compost microbes have to work on and provides a more even distribution of air and moisture among the materials. Like; Save; gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) 5 years ago. Leaves take a long time to break down. Learn how to compost leaves below. Whole leaves (especially large ones) form an impenetrable, moldy mat that will suffocate nearby plants and make a mess. Shredding Cardboard for Compost. Place a bag underneath the shredder to catch the shredded leaves as they exit the shredder. Best of all, compost is simple to make! But the plants have been growing just great. But if they are shredding it and mixing it with massive amounts of other material, I don't see how they would know. 5 5. Shredding them into tiny pieces relieves these concerns and makes them useful as compost. Shredding Leaves with a String Trimmer Standard. Some degree of shredding is necessary for composting leaves, because whole leaves tend to form a soggy mat that will take forever to break down. Leaf compost is a mix of leaves and organic materials, like grass clippings or food waste. I need to make room in my compost bins! layer of shredded corrugated cardboard with other high-carbon materials such as straw, old hay or dead leaves. If there is one secret to making fast compost, it is finely shredding the carbon rich ingredients such as fallen leaves, hay, straw, paper and cardboard. … Shredding Leaves. Should you cut up compost scraps? and when it is all cut up, it is surprising how many bushes or briars fit into the 5 gallon bucket! Whole leaves take FOREVER to decompose. 12 years ago. (Shredder reduces volume of leaves to ¼ of the original). Because even if you stockpile dry leaves on their own (without any nitrogen rich materials), they will start to break down like any organic matter. what is the composition of mapple grass (an agricultural waste) Reply. Benefits of Leaf Compost and Leaf Mulch–And How to Compost Leaves Quickly. shredding process. Begin your compost pile with a 4-inch (10 cm.) Discussion in 'Soils, Fertilizers and Composting' started by worldharmony, Jun 2, 2009. worldharmony Active Member. Leaves that have relatively little calcium (and other healthy minerals) can take as long as 2 years to break down, making them poor candidates for a compost pile. Sep 25, 2020 - Do you want to know how to shred leaves without a shredder? I would think shredding and composting would help that so maybe there really is a problem with how fast it breaks down. Let's find out how! Leaves also lose plenty of nutrients if just left to decompose on their own and they break down much slower. Q. I composted last year's shredded leaves with coffee grounds, turned the piles, and finally have finished compost! The mass of a large static pile just seems to break down organic matter faster then a lil home static pile (hence shredding the leaves has another purpose, more stuff in a smaller area) To stop a pile,let it dry out. Small leaves (those of birches, willows, elms, etc.) Shredding can be accomplished easily with a … 6:53 Composting footage of leaves and windrows A windrow reduces to about half its initial size in one or two months, and it then can be combined with another windrow. We compost the leaves that land on the grass to create nutrient-dense plant food (leaf mold) for the garden. Close. I sold my house in the country a couple of years ago, but at this time of year I would put my lawn mower on a high setting and run over all the piles of leaves in my yard. Views: 394, Replies: 0 » Jump to the end. Comfrey is a great plant for the compost, so I cut all the leaves off my comfrey patch and layered them on top of shredded leaves. ---Andy in Pitman, NJ A. Andy has discovered the hard reality and awkward timing of composting in climes with cold winters. Say you have all these shredded leaves piled up in your compost heap, it suggested to inoculate them with some finished compost to get them going. Not All Leaves are Alike. So in a way leaf shredding without shredder is possible, it just takes mass and time. To this end, leaf shredders geared towards making compost tend to have powerful motors and shredders that reduce the incoming leaves into very small pieces. Shredding Leaves. Shredding scraps for composting is a common practice, but you may have wondered if this practice is necessary or even effective. Usually a year or two is needed to fully decompose leaves. Leaves composted without shredding and not mixed with a green source of nitrogen may sit for years before decomposing. Went back to mowing the leaves instead of raking them. I have to say that i think the plants prefer the compost like that. (If not, here’s a text on the subject.) ; Add a 4-inch (10 cm.) Messages: 34 Likes Received: 0 Location: Northeast USA. So, avoid using any thick or leathery leaves in your compost, including holly, magnolia, oak, birch, and beech. It takes around 2 minutes to shred one bags of dry leaves. The problem is mainly with large leaves (like those of maples, oaks, planes, etc.). Turn your leaf-shredder on and drop the leaves into the shredder or mulcher. It seems that the best way to deal with your autumn leaves is to stock them in a dedicated leaf compost bin. layer of nitrogen rich materials on top of the cardboard such as fresh grass clippings, horse or cow manure, spoiled vegetables or fruit peels. So I spend around 8 minutes per week for shredding activity. Shredding the leaves speeds the decomposition process. If you have large amounts of leaves, you can use them for other purposes in the garden, but they must first be shredded. Shred leaves into fine pieces with either a leaf shredder or a lawn mower. This saves you money in the long run since you don’t have to dispose of the leaves or buy compost. After shredding small leaves ( like those of birches, willows, elms, etc..... 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