This topic contains 19 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by Gerry John 6 years, 4 months ago.
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I would have spread the compost and composted manure Gerry, and left the leaves in a pile to moulder.
I wonder if they will cause slugs, you may struggle to grow salads, spinach etc.
On the pother hand, plant squash, courgette, potatoes, leeks when it is time.Once again, I’ll refer to Patrick Dolan of One Yard Revolution on Youtube. He mulches his beds with a thick layer of leaves, up to 9 cm., in autumn and grows basically anything the coming year. He, of course, does have excellent soil underneath all the leaves. But, this year, after seeing a video by another Youtuber, I am Organic Gardening, I sowed many veg in trays on top of leaves that I covered with a thin layer of compost (composted material) – I always get so confused with this British thing about calling soil compost as well! And things grew extremely well. I’m of course not trying to contradict Charles here about that it would have been a good idea to spread manure and compost, just trying to say that I’d be confident that one can grow most things in the leaves coming season.
Hawfinch, Patrick is great.
However he is continental USA, drier climate and bitter winters, fewer slugs.
This forum is based around a maritime climate where slugs accumulate under mulches such as leaves.
Gerry John has not said where he is from, perhaps it is continental USA in which case no worries!
Check the thread ‘Sheep wool as mulch’, where Oisin Kenny from Galway is struggling with slugs from wood chip mulches. Yet so often one sees wood chip mulches recommended, with never a mention of slugs.Hi Charles, my main point was that I believe one can grow most veg in the leaves come spring. But I also agree with you about the slugs, they do like to hide under leaves and wood chips. One thing Patrick does mention in his videos is that they used to have lots of slugs, he believes that years’ of using wood chips has created so much habitat for predators, ground beetles etc., that they don’t really have any these days. But if people do have many, yes, it probably is best to keep the ground clear.
Your slugs will not have a discerning palate, so you may be able to “collect” slops from your local pub. I understand that you need only to provide a flavoursome solution, sugary will do. Also a concoction of stale bread and brown sugar soup, but discard when stinky!They will die ,smiling!
Hi Gerry, I am 10 miles south of you and I started no dig beginning of this year. I was creating 4 foot beds on a full size allotment with composted green manure free from local authority collected by car and trailer. At the end I was short of about 2 yards of material and used newly fallen leaves to make up the bed covered by 1 inch of shop bought compost. The leaves were pure horse chestnut. Everything I planted in this section died. I then discovered horse chestnut leaves are alellopathic – that is they contain a chemical that prevents the growth of other plants. Black walnut leaves are the same. So you must be careful which uncomposted leaves you use
I tried something similar with leaves last autumn,I spread a 6″/8″ layer of leaves on a bed about 4 foot by 12,then covered with 3″ of rotted horse manure.
In spring of this year, I tried to plant my module sown climbing peas in the bed.It was impossible to do,under the composted manure was an impenetrable bed of solid leaves (they were maple/sycamore).There had been no composting whatsoever,I scraped the lot off and filled one of my compost bins.I did have a good crop of peas though totally weed free and now have some nice compost (I did turn and add to it through the season.)
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