I Put 80 Bags Of Leaves On My Soil For 7 years, by Growit Buildit on YouTube. 11 min 57 s.
- Video length
- 11 min 57 s
- Time to do it
- 1 hour
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Collect fallen leaves from your lawn or street before they get wet and matted. Rake them into piles and load them into a wheelbarrow or onto a tarp.
Choose beds that will sit empty over winter, such as finished vegetable patches. Avoid covering newly sown seeds or small seedlings.
Spread the leaves in a layer about 10 to 15 cm deep over the soil surface. Keep the layer loose so air and water can still pass through.
Pull the mulch back a few centimetres from stems, trunks and crowns. Piled leaves against plant tissue can trap moisture and cause rot.
Leave the leaves in place over winter. Worms and soil life will start breaking them down and pulling them into the soil.
In spring, rake off any leaves that have not broken down and add them to the compost heap. Lightly fork the remaining layer into the top few centimetres of soil.
Top up with a fresh layer of leaves each autumn. Repeat every year so organic matter keeps building in the bed.
Watch how the soil looks and feels over the seasons. Crumbly, dark soil with plenty of worms shows the mulch is working.
Tips and common mistakes
Shred leaves with a mower before spreading if you want them to break down faster.
Do not bury leaves deep in the soil straight away, as they can lock up nitrogen while they rot.
Keep a mix of leaf types if you can, since different leaves break down at different speeds.
Skip thick layers over dormant perennials that stay wet, as the leaves can smother crowns.
Questions
Do I need to compost the leaves first?
No. You can spread fresh autumn leaves straight onto beds as mulch. They break down slowly on the surface and feed the soil over the following months.
How long does it take to improve the soil?
Expect small changes after the first year and clear improvement after several seasons of annual mulching. Building organic matter is a slow process, so keep topping up each autumn.
Can I use leaves on any garden bed?
Leaves work well on vegetable beds, around shrubs and on bare soil. Keep them off small seedlings and pull them back from stems so plants do not rot.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
