When do leaves become leaf mould

Hi all,

Last year I collected oak leaves and put in a pen to make leaf mould. However, I'm not sure it's broken down enough to be considered leaf mould yet, photo attached but hard to tell unless you handle it. It's not in small enough bits and crumbly enough I would say but don't have direct experience. I added some grass clippings and urea to try to increase nitrogen content..As the leaves will start to fall again I'm wondering what to do with my existing batch? Really comes down to if it is leaf mould yet or not which might be hard to tell. Do I leave it another year and not collect this autumns leaves or do I need 2 pens, one for new leaves and one for 1yr old leaves if it needs to be left for 2 years. To be honest I don't have the space for that though.

Thanks for any insights

 

Normally when it goes dark brown/black and generally feels damper. Some of mine gets left 2 to 3 years, but thats in dumpy bags behind the fruit cage.
The yellow and black thing will never make good leaf mould.

 

It still looks recognisable as leaves so not ready for true leaf mould yet. It would be ok a mulch but it if you bag it up (bin bag with holes is ok) and put somewhere over winter - it will probably be pretty good to use a compost improver next year.

 

You might do well to find a 'starter' dose of 4-5 year material to 'seed' the heap as it will likely contain all the necessary soil microbes to ensure comprehensive decay. I think it works best in a larger volume, perhaps a builders bag* (0.8cube).This you can roll about to mix and ensure the sides meet the middle. Allow it at least 2 seasons, possibly more. Start a second bag with this years collection, perhaps stack upon the previous and ensure they remain damp not wet.
Oak are best mixed with other, less tannic ,species to give the best material.
*Available (freely!) everywhere as they are not recyclable for use. (HSE)

 

Oak leaves do take at least 2 years to break down enough to be used, as mentioned. The added nitrogen in grass clippings etc. won't help much, as the fungal mycelium doing the breaking-down doesn't need it.

 

Thanks for all the advice. Seems then that it's a 2 year endeavour. I'll maybe do as some have suggested and bag this lot for another year and use the pen for this year's leaves. If I can get some decent strength bags that aren't too big I might fit them behind the pen between it and the fence. I only recently recycled some compost and gravel bags that might have been ok

Thanks again

 

The smaller you can cut them to begin with, the faster they will break down. It's all about surface area which is why many shred them with a lawn mower before adding to the pile but I quite enjoy a winter work out with the shears.

 

I agree with @Thevictorian that if you can shred them with a lawnmower first, that speeds things up.
It would be easier to bag the new leaves, rather than removing all the old ones. YOu can give the ones in the cage a turn with a fork though.
I always found bagged ones broke down more speedily than ones I had in cages. You'll find it easier to squash them into a space, but decent sized bin bags are better than small ones, black, and plenty of holes in them. You can just give them a shake every now and again if you feel like it too

 

I used to do that too @Loofah. It depends on how much room there is, and what use the leaf mould is going to have etc.

 

I have given up doing pure leaf mould as a I haven’t a space I’m willing to sacrifice.

We mow any leaves we collect and they go straight into the compost. The rest are left on the borders where they fall. I then do a tidy up after Christmas to remove any leaves which will hide the snowdrops and cyclamen. The leaves are usually fairly squishy/fragile by then so they go into the compost.

 

I don't have space for a heap or cage, so I put shredded leaves into old compost bags. I turn the bags inside out, so I don't get mixed up thinking it's compost. You can add extra holes just by sticking a fork through the bag before you start. Takes one to two years depending on what leaves you put in.

 

I find the quickest way to get them incorporated into the soil is to leave the worms to it. They drag the down where they will add some benefit.
The rest get put aside for leaf mould but I don't use an open heap because they seem to attract weed seeds and it's far less of a problem if you sack them up.