soil question from newbie

I am confused. I have read that I need to add leaves to the soil. We do not compost, so these would be just gathered leaves. But I have also read to keep leaves away from plants to prevent black spot. So what is correct?
Also, there is some white stuff in my soil, kinda looks like some kind of mildew, mold or fungus. It is white and looks kind of webby. What is this and is it good?
Thanks in advance.
Stefani

Leaves can be good--I don't compost either so what I usually do in the fall is rake up my leaves and run them through my shredder, then use that as mulch. It seems to work better to shred them up, otherwise if you leave them whole sometimes they can mat together and hinder water from getting through. As with any mulch, you should avoid piling them right up to the trunk/base of your trees & shrubs. And if the leaves had any sort of disease (like black spot) then you should throw them out rather than using them as mulch. If the leaves didn't have a disease though there's no reason not to use them. As far as your white stuff--it would help to see a picture but it may be perfectly normal, it sounds like something I see where my mulch is starting to decompose.

Are you talking about on the soil or in the soil?

I think it is where the mulch is decomposing. It is under the mulch, on top of the soil. We are new to the organic side. We decided this year to switch from chemicals to organic. So I am not really sure of what to do about certain things. I used to just go get some systemic fungicide or something. I am having to relearn gardening all over again and pretty much forget everything I knew before. We are getting some worm casings on Sat. and are starting a vermicomposting bin. We don't currently have the time or money to do a regular compost bin, so that will have to wait. I am just focusing on making my soil good this year and maintaining the plants I have. I will plant new stuff next year. I have been doing a lot of reading on this website as well as others, but any advice you have that will make this transition smoother is greatly appreciated.

I have made my own potting soil for years. I use it in pots and in the holes that I dig in the ground for plants. I have red clay soil, you may have it too. When planting I dig out the red clay and use my mix in the hole. I buy Mushroom Compost and Peat Moss at Lowe's or Walmart. I mix the compost to peat moss at a ratio of about 5 to 1. That is approximate, I don't measure. To this I add leaves that I just crush by hand. You can take a trash bag, fill it with leaves, throw in a little water and set aside for a while. The leaves will start to decompose and break down and mold. This leaf mold is very good for all your plants. I usually just let my leaves mold in the ground but I have used the trash bag method in the fall and just left the leaves in the bag for the winter.

I agree that (healthy) leaves make very good compost. In our area, if wet leaves are left on top of the soil in fall, it takes 6 or 7 years for the worms to pull all the leaf material under. Spring bulbs and perennials just grow up through the leaves so by June you don't see any. A great advantage of leaves is that they don't contain weed seeds. We just have to pull out the maple seedlings, only once. Think some leaves are slow to decompose (e.g. oak). Leaves must be wet. I don't use this system, because the garden looks too untidy in spring. Leaf litter also promotes the growth of vole populations (can mine out the bulbs).
I too don't use herbicides or pesticides.
Last year I did start to dig in locust tree leaves (tiny). Really like ecranes3's
idea of putting leaves through the shredder. Intend to use some leaves (via a shredder) this year.
Just read somewhere (maybe on Dave's), one great thing about mushroom compost is that they don't use chemical in mushroom culture. Sounds good.

This year I get to put mine thruogh the shredder. My DH bought one not too long ago. Much easier than by hand.

Just as a thought atara, composting can be as easy or difficult as you want to deal with. I've seen the black bins at Lowes for 50$. You can make a bin out of old pallets or whatever. Then just throw in mattierials. Greens and adding the browns or high carbon items keeps it from smelling. When I don't have leaves I'll take home shredded office paper from work. Occasionaly getting some air in there also keeps it from smelling.

Alot of people think composting is a lot of work because of the sheer volume of info on it. You can chose to do highly managed composts. Or you can let it happen. It's a natural process and all the management is for getting compost supper quick. I've also seen composters that run electricaly to heat and turn and all that. Basicaly tho you can compost in whatever way fits your style=)

Here is my compost heaps. The "working" pile is the one I add kitchen scraps in. I make sure it has adequate moisture and turn it every now and then by opening it up, dragging the stuff out, and putting it back in. The other larger one is more of a holding bin for the yard waste I score driving though the neighborhood.


Here is the working pile. It's just hardware cloth with a plastic cover to keep in moisture. It was 130 degrees last week when I tested it!

Here is the working bin. It's larger and I don't bother covering it.

Leaf mould is compost,and it has been occuring in forests for untold ages. Leaves build up on the forest floor, and bacteria break them down. No one turned them or added this or that or watered them or did anything, and yet they composted into wonderful material that enriches soil. We can do the same thing with leaves, grass clippings, etc. It may take longer if we don't turn it periodically, water it (rather than depending on rain to do that. But eventually, in 2 or 3 years, we will have compost. No need to buy an expensive bin. Pile them in a place where they will be undisturbed and wait the wait.

for years I used the black plastic bag method: chop the leaves up with the lawn mower, including any grass that need to be cut, bag them up in heavy duty plastic bags (they will be really heavy), poke holes in the bags (for air and drainage). If you have it, add a scoop of yard dirt, then water it down. About one a week (or less often) I roll the bag over. In spring, I have a bag full of almost finished mulch that I use everywhere in the yard. I bought a compost tumbler, gave it away, going back to the bag method.

I grow only veggies (annuals), and typically plant 100-200 pots per year. Every fall, I depot my potting soil, clean my pots and put them in the shed. Like Cathy, I mix lawnmower shredded grass and leaves (sugar maple) about 50-50 with the soil, adding as much coffee grounds as I can get my hands on. The soil for early planting goes into black plastic dustbins that have a few extra 1/4" holes drilled in them -- this is just so this soil stays warmer. The rest (for May plantings) goes in a big pile on top of (and covered by) black landscape fabric. In the spring, I reverse the process, testing and amending each wheelbarrow full as necessary (peat hummus, sand, lime, organic fertilizer, and more coffee grounds). This is a lot of work, but the soil is better now than the day I bought it, while the ice and snow does not get a chance to break my pots.