Hi,
I was wondering if anyone here has tried using chopped up leaves as mulch? Not just as a winter cover but as an all year mulch. Lots of maple leaves falling :*)
Andrew
Mulching lilies
Maple leafs tend to make poor mulch because they layer and exclude air and water. Also the have a Alkaline reaction to soil.
Dennis
Disagreement here. I use oak leaves that have gone through the mower (chopped up) on nearly all my gardens - and all year. A heavy mulch goes on after the ground freezes. With the goofy late falls we have been having here (35 miles west of Minneapolis), that means about the first week or two of December. Stays on through the spring and summer, at the end of which, the layer is quite meager. Worms love leaf mulch. And you won't have a problem with late cold snaps freezing the lily sprouts, 'cause they won't be up yet. (still sleeping in the cold soil)
Nothing packs more than whole oak leaves, although I don't doubt that maple leaves would do the same. I've mulched with chopped maple leaves in the past. Works great, but they decompose faster. Much prefer oak, but if maple is all that was available, I'd jump at the chance.
Never heard of an alkaline reaction with maple leaves, but that doesn't mean it's not true. Just don't know. But since Freeman maples, Amur maples, Red maples, striped maple types and Sugar maples(although not quite so much) are all fairly intolerant of alkaline soil, it would seem silly that they would produce a duff that would be to their detriment. Norway maple and especially Silver maple are fairly high pH adaptable. Perhaps it could be just their leaves that have this quality?
BTW, after using truckloads of oak mulch on my gardens annually for 5+ years, I wondered if it might be making the soil too acid for my vegetable garden. (Vegetables in general prefer a neutral pH.) I added lime in part of the garden. What a MISTAKE! It took two more years before I got that soil back in balance.
This message was edited Oct 13, 2007 7:43 PM
I have access to tons of silver maple. I was going to chop it up into tiny bits. The only concern I have is rodents making a home in the leaf piles. I haven't seen to many voles/moles/mice though so maybe it isn't a concern really.
I use leaf mulch too, a mix of maple and oak and various other trees with great success. I think the important thing is that the leaves are mulched up nicely; making a denser mat on the ground that isn't too much of a haven for critters, and keeping the wind from blowing it away. It has improved my soil rapidly too. A year later theres a solid black layer of worm castings-black gold!
I mow late in the year and pour all my chopped maple,river birch, ash etc leaves into my mixed flower beds. I need a good light mulch to hold back winter's low temps & prevent the lilies from emerging too early in the spring. I uncover the lilies & other plants later, but leave the mulch to hold moisture and eventually break down. My soil gets better every year.
