100% leaf mulch this year - thoughts on deficiencies? - Page 7

ScottinAtlanta · February 9, 2015

Dagnabit. You are influencing me.

Redbaron · February 9, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Dagnabit. You are influencing me.

That's ok. We southerners got to stick together!

Even if I did live all over the country north and south east and west, I was still born in Florida, and most my family is there now.

Besides, in spite of our heated discussions from time to time, I am quite sure I also have been influenced by you and everyone else here at T ville as well!

That Kudzu thing was brilliant! Compost as a part of invasive weed control. I loved it!

peppero · February 11, 2015

All of this has been most enjoyable. Thanks for starting it Scott.

jon

BigVanVader · February 11, 2015

Scott since our climates are similar I wonder if you think it'd be ok to plant into leaves/coffee grounds mixture 2 months after mixing? I ask b/c that's what I will be doing 😒

4season · February 11, 2015

Last year I mulched potatoes and carrots with leaves shredded with a string trimmer. The soil texture is better and the earthworm population is ten times better. This fall I purchased a leaf blower/vacuum ( turn out to be the one Mike Mcgrath uses in his TED talk) and it shreds the leaves much finer. I am mixing a few in with coffee grounds and coffee chaff but saving the majority for mulch to keep the weeds down and moisture in the soil. An added benefit, in August bare soil can be about 115 or 120 degrees and under mulch it is much cooler for the roots and knees if you are weeding.

Tracydr · February 12, 2015

I'm grinding about a ton of leaves mixed with pine needles this weekend. I'm going to put that mess on the front yard after throwing some fescue seed down. The front yard is bare,hard packed acidic sand.
I'll do another huge batch into my new garden. I have two or three pickup loads of partially composted pine needles piled up in the garden right now. It will all go through the shredder, which turns it into a beautiful black mulch. I plan to plant right into it this year as a raised bed without sides. I'll probably add a bit of sandy loam to the mix if it needs it.
This will be my first real garden in NC. Starting tomatoes and pepper seeds this weekend, which is a few weeks later than I'd planned on.

ScottinAtlanta · February 12, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Scott since our climates are similar I wonder if you think it'd be ok to plant into leaves/coffee grounds mixture 2 months after mixing? I ask b/c that's what I will be doing 😒

That is basically what I am doing. Since this is my first year of trying straight leaf mulch instead of manure or compost, you and I will experiment together.

Father'sDaughter · February 12, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracydr

I'm grinding about a ton of leaves mixed with pine needles this weekend. I'm going to put that mess on the front yard after throwing some fescue seed down. The front yard is bare,hard packed acidic sand.
I'll do another huge batch into my new garden. I have two or three pickup loads of partially composted pine needles piled up in the garden right now. It will all go through the shredder, which turns it into a beautiful black mulch. I plan to plant right into it this year as a raised bed without sides. I'll probably add a bit of sandy loam to the mix if it needs it.
This will be my first real garden in NC. Starting tomatoes and pepper seeds this weekend, which is a few weeks later than I'd planned on.

I thought pine needles provided mega doses of acid to soil? I know we used to have several pine trees at the edge of the yard and the grass would always die around them. My father (a retired landscaper) told us we needed to get the needles picked up because they were too acidic for the grass. Does shredding and composting them change the acidity?

Redbaron · February 12, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

I thought pine needles provided mega doses of acid to soil? I know we used to have several pine trees at the edge of the yard and the grass would always die around them. My father (a retired landscaper) told us we needed to get the needles picked up because they were too acidic for the grass. Does shredding and composting them change the acidity?

I was taught the same thing when I was young. Several respected people who post here say differently.

BigVanVader · February 12, 2015

I read a paper somewhere from a university that showed no change in PH due to pine needles being added. In fact a guy at our Market mulches with them. They do need to be aged enough to be dry and brown I believe.

Misfit · February 12, 2015

Are pine needles kinda like leaves, when left on top of the soil you don't have to worry about it changing the chemistry of whats underneath?

-Jimmy

Cole_Robbie · February 13, 2015

I have also read about the idea of pine needles creating soil acidity to be a myth. When needles are brown and at the stage of falling off a tree, by the time they hit the ground and get rained on one time they are ph neutral. Green needles might be acidic, and pine trees do also thrive in acid soils where other trees won't grow, but the dropped needles don't create an acid soil. If you were to go test the soil under your nearest big pine tree, which has had needles dropped on it for decades, that dirt should not be any more acidic than the general area.

Stvrob · February 13, 2015

I use pine needles and leaves extensively. my biggest gripe about the pine needles is they have a slightly waxy coating that makes them resistent to decay. Once thats broken down though, they make a wonderful compost, nice and moldy.

Tracydr · February 15, 2015

Running the pine needles and cones through the shredder, along with leaves and hardwood branches, makes an amazing mulch. Last summer it broke down into black compist quickly too, when it was hot and I had a stockpile in the shade.

crazyoldgooseman · February 28, 2015

We have lots of leaves here that I would love to use. But what can you do to keep them from blowing away?

February 28, 2015	#105
crazyoldgooseman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Southern Maryland 7a Posts: 200	We have lots of leaves here that I would love to use. But what can you do to keep them from blowing away? __________________ Anybody see where I sat my beer? -crazyoldgooseman

February 9, 2015	#91
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	Dagnabit. You are influencing me.

February 11, 2015	#93
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	All of this has been most enjoyable. Thanks for starting it Scott. jon

February 11, 2015	#94
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	Scott since our climates are similar I wonder if you think it'd be ok to plant into leaves/coffee grounds mixture 2 months after mixing? I ask b/c that's what I will be doing 😒

February 11, 2015	#95
4season Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: albuquerque Posts: 308	Last year I mulched potatoes and carrots with leaves shredded with a string trimmer. The soil texture is better and the earthworm population is ten times better. This fall I purchased a leaf blower/vacuum ( turn out to be the one Mike Mcgrath uses in his TED talk) and it shreds the leaves much finer. I am mixing a few in with coffee grounds and coffee chaff but saving the majority for mulch to keep the weeds down and moisture in the soil. An added benefit, in August bare soil can be about 115 or 120 degrees and under mulch it is much cooler for the roots and knees if you are weeding.

February 12, 2015	#96
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	I'm grinding about a ton of leaves mixed with pine needles this weekend. I'm going to put that mess on the front yard after throwing some fescue seed down. The front yard is bare,hard packed acidic sand. I'll do another huge batch into my new garden. I have two or three pickup loads of partially composted pine needles piled up in the garden right now. It will all go through the shredder, which turns it into a beautiful black mulch. I plan to plant right into it this year as a raised bed without sides. I'll probably add a bit of sandy loam to the mix if it needs it. This will be my first real garden in NC. Starting tomatoes and pepper seeds this weekend, which is a few weeks later than I'd planned on.

February 12, 2015	#100
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	I read a paper somewhere from a university that showed no change in PH due to pine needles being added. In fact a guy at our Market mulches with them. They do need to be aged enough to be dry and brown I believe.

February 12, 2015	#101
Misfit Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Baltimore Posts: 165	Are pine needles kinda like leaves, when left on top of the soil you don't have to worry about it changing the chemistry of whats underneath? -Jimmy

February 13, 2015	#102
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I have also read about the idea of pine needles creating soil acidity to be a myth. When needles are brown and at the stage of falling off a tree, by the time they hit the ground and get rained on one time they are ph neutral. Green needles might be acidic, and pine trees do also thrive in acid soils where other trees won't grow, but the dropped needles don't create an acid soil. If you were to go test the soil under your nearest big pine tree, which has had needles dropped on it for decades, that dirt should not be any more acidic than the general area.

February 13, 2015	#103
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	I use pine needles and leaves extensively. my biggest gripe about the pine needles is they have a slightly waxy coating that makes them resistent to decay. Once thats broken down though, they make a wonderful compost, nice and moldy.

February 15, 2015	#104
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Running the pine needles and cones through the shredder, along with leaves and hardwood branches, makes an amazing mulch. Last summer it broke down into black compist quickly too, when it was hot and I had a stockpile in the shade.