How to Make Compost from Fallen Leaves: Turning Waste into Fertilizer
In the midst of autumn there is not much work left to do in the garden.
Therefore, after cleaning up fallen leaves, it’s time to put them into circulation and prepare a useful fertilizer for your garden.
Fallen Leaves Compost
The main rule to follow is that you can only use leaves that you have collected from under absolutely healthy trees to create compost.
Otherwise, the compost may become a threat to healthy plants.
The fertilizer is prepared as follows:
- a layer of fallen leaves is placed in a box or any other compost container, alternating it with a small layer of soil;
- if the foliage and soil are dry, the layers are watered;
- ash, dolomite flour or lime are added to deoxidize the mixture;
- To speed up decomposition, a nitrogenous product is added.
Bird droppings or cow manure or infusions based on them are suitable as the latter. If there is no organic matter available, it is permissible to use urea or ammonium nitrate. 23-30 grams of nitrogen preparations per 10 liters of water are sufficient.
In addition to dry leaves, you can add the following to your compost:
- freshly cut grass;
- vegetable tops and other organic waste from the kitchen;
- weeds (it is important to check that they do not have seeds).
