How I Use Homemade Leaf Mold in My Garden

I have already written on the way I do mold in my garden. But today, I thought it would be useful to share how I use the leaf mold that I have been since I was questioned on this subject recently. I know that many are interested in making molds of leaves but do not fully understand how it can be used.

I find that the moldy leaves is the most useful in two main ways: as a modification of the soil or mulch and as a material for homemade repotting mixtures. These are my favorite ways to use leaves and turn the nutrients it contains in my garden.

Using leaf molds such as amend or soil mulch

The first way I use my house with homemade leaves is an organic matter to improve the soil or build healthy soil in growth areas. As a type of partially decomposed organic matter, leaf mold is similar to the compost, but not precisely the same.

During the leaf manufacturing process, after about a year, the leaves will be broken down into a friable material that I like to use as mulch around trees and shrubs. The following year, I used it as a finer and less bitty mulch which is good for sowing and young tender plants in my vegetable garden.

Use in superposition, improving soil health

Leaf mold can be incredibly useful as an upper layer in a lasagna bed, a Hugelkultur bed or a mound – or in an area that has been pailed with a leaf for planting. Its texture and consistency mean that it can create a good plain or high surface for plants or seeds.

The leaf mold used to dress in an area of ​​a garden can improve the soil below, because it is worked by the agency of earthworms and other biota on the ground. There is no need to meet or dig in your organic matter, and according to my experience, no excavation system leads to a much healthier soil ecosystem over time. And as I am sure that everyone is aware, healthier soil means healthier plants.

Anecdotal, I noted an increase in the activity of the moles in the areas of my garden where a mulch of mold of the leaves has been applied, which, I believe, is due to the presence of more earthworms in these areas.

This is a way of mulch application can potentially help the subject areas or suffer from compaction. Of course, my own observations are specific to where I live. However, many others experience similar positive impacts when applying leaves mold in other regions.

Using the leaf mold in a homemade repotting mixture

The other main way I use the leaf mold is like a key ingredient in my homemade repotting mixture. I make a repotting mixture which is useful for a wide range of different containers plants by mixing:

• 1/3 in sleamon soil volume
• 1/3 homemade compost
• 1/3 of leaf mold

The leaf mold is a good lasting alternative for vermiculite. It can well keep water while allowing good ventilation in a repotting mixture. It is a material that very effectively balances ventilation and humidity in the pot or another container.

Whenever I leave leaf mold out of my pots and my containers, either when I am sowing seeds, or when I fill the plants for a longer term garden, I found that the mixtures have not been as effective.

Once the repotting mixture has been spent, it can then be simply tilted with containers which it has filled on the areas of the garden which could do with mulch. Although the mixture, once used, will no longer contain the same level of nutrients it has made, it can always help keep the humidity of the soil and improve the texture of the soil over time when used to dress the soil in a garden.