Roadside leaves for leaf mould?

KiwiSFGnewbie 4/11/2023, 11:24 pm

Being autumn here, there are lots of leaves all around the place nowadays. I already have some metal mesh for my leaf cages and on my morning walk today I was thinking about raking up the leaves in the gutters on my street.

But then I started to wonder about nasties mixed in with those leaves, bitumen, rubber from tyres, etc. What a Face

So: would you gather roadside leaves and make leaf mould from them? If so, would you use it the coming spring, or perhaps let it sit until the one after that?

Thanks everyone! Smile

smobertoday 4/12/2023, 11:09 pm

I don't rake the gutters but when I had my pickup truck I'd pick up what neighbors had bagged and left roadside for trash pickup!

KiwiSFGnewbie 4/13/2023, 1:18 am

What a good idea!! Nobody puts leaves out like that here; I guess people either let them decompose on the lawn (as I used to do) or burns them. Thanks for the input, I think I'll leave the gutters alone Smile

**sanderson** 4/13/2023, 3:22 am

KiwiSFGnewbie wrote:. . . So: would you gather roadside leaves and make leaf mould from them? If so, would you use it the coming spring, or perhaps let it sit until the one after that?

Thanks everyone!

I lightly raked a neighbor's gutter leaves and made a wire cage for them. The cage is only 2.5' diameter so I couldn't fit in all of them. With the rain, the pile has sunk so I will add the rest. The leaves will tell you when they are ready. Next year or the following year.

KiwiSFGnewbie 4/13/2023, 3:59 am

Thanks sanderson Smile

I think I'll avoid using the roadside ones, just in case there are nasties mixed in. A neighbour has a huge maple (I think) and I should be able to get heaps of leaves off it, not to mention my own large tree. I was hoping to be able to use the leaf mould in spring, but if I have to wait another 12 months that'll be OK too.

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Roadside leaves for leaf mould?

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