After watching your previous videos, I collected a huge amount of leaves last autumn to add to my heavy clay soil. I laid them down prior to winter, and kept excess to mulch throughout the growing season. I didn't need to buy any top soil all season. My yields were tremendous. Leaves are 100% the best soil amendment I've used. Thank you so much for documenting your progress throughout the years. Extremely helpful information!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you @parihav and congrats on your success! Keep it up and spread the word.

@HOLYLAND007007007

8 ай бұрын

​@@growitbuilditFor your cabbage try ground up egg shells make a ring around all of your cabbages about 6 or 7 in wide of ground egg shells they wont want to crawl on it

@davidisaacson9328

6 ай бұрын

@@HOLYLAND007007007 Sorry....but that's just an old wives tale. Slugs going after my peppers this last season, didn't mind crushed up eggshells at all. Stale beer left in a cut down beer can works.

@biffmalibu3733

6 ай бұрын

Buy a cheap electric leaf shredder. I started grinding all my leaves up and its amazing how much faster they break down. I found an old beat up electric one for 10 bucks at a yard sale. I also shred all my garden scraps in the fall as well. They don't blow around either so they stay put.

@baneverything5580

4 ай бұрын

My soil is hard red clay turned to an extremely solid concrete almost. 3 to 4 inches down in the best area. I mulched with pine straw and grass clippings and mass planted mustard greens and legumes of all kinds. Red Ripper Southern runner peas grew all summer. Before that it was green beans, blackeyed peas, and purple hull peas. I just found very deep areas of rotted, moldy leaf and pine straw turned black in the woods. I`ve been loading my garden wagon and dumping it in piles in my garden and covering it with pine straw for now.

My mother did something crazy! She had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She was a master gardener. She had never used leaves or mulch in her garden, but we did have rich loamy soil. She went driving around and took bagged leaves left at the curb that were meant to be picked up by the municiple waste truck. She dumped all of them in her garden. Like you, she had a great harvest, as usual, and no weeds. As the leaves were decomposing, walking in the garden was a challenge. Years have gone by since my mother's last garden in 2018. The garden has returned to a grassy yard. No evidence of all those piles of leaves remain. Now I'm trying to have my own garden in my yard using things my mother taught me. Keep your leaves!

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing - I fully agree in regards to the leaves!

@paulgreenleaf600

6 ай бұрын

Don't give up if you have a tough year or two...maybe three years. It takes a little bit of time to develop and learn a first garden but if you keep doing it year after year you will become a master yourself.

Composting autumn leaves and using as mulch is a Bacic a gardening skill that has be used for a long time. People seem to see a garden as something that needs to be neat and ordered. I am always amused at the reaction I get when I ask if I could have their lawn clippings and leaves. Most people just don't understand that the potting mix and the compost they buy is made with the garden waste they pay to dispose of.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

It's crazy - even other gardeners in my neighborhood don't use their leaves.

@SeattlePioneer

7 ай бұрын

As I understand it, in the millennia before lawnmows were invented, often sheep, goats and cows wandered around neighborhoods eating the grass. That's probably a better use for grass than as mulch. No need to cut it or move it around, except by using a halter!

@nobodyreally8441

7 ай бұрын

I tried to even buy lawn clipping, but nobody in my area bags their clipping. 😢

@Wildwwill

7 ай бұрын

I have 5 large maples worth of leaves I mulch for the garden. I wait until most have fallen and begin to dry. I use a riding mower to push them in rows. Running backwards over them mulches the best. Mulched and mixed with grass clippings. What doesn't stay in the lawn is raked and spread on the garden. My sandy garden soil has improved immensely over the last 8 years.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

@@Wildwwill glad to hear you are getting the same results as me

In my town, they get the crew to pick up leaves in which they take to our dump and burn. I wish that people would wake up and realize just how fantastic these leaves are and that we need to put back into the earth what we are given. It's litteral GOLD and people just throw it away. Fantastic video. I just dug in a few bags into my garden and will cover with compost in the Spring. Thank you 😊

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

You are very welcome - leaves are just about the best soil amendment, that is insanely valuable, and is wasted by so many. It's really a tragedy!

@lpmoron6258

8 ай бұрын

Can you not start a movement to gather the bags and use them yourself.

@hergardendiary

8 ай бұрын

@@lpmoron6258 I do

@bsod5608

8 ай бұрын

The closest neighbours of mine drop the bags at my fence :) less work for them to get rid of them, and more leaves for me. Win-win

@lpmoron6258

8 ай бұрын

@@bsod5608 unfortunately my nearest neighbors prefer to burn theirs! It is a waste but with 5 cats and two dogs, I am not sure I would want to use those!

Amazing!!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Thanks for the update! I love this

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

You are very welcome Trey.

Thanks so much for keeping us updated!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

You are very welcome Kassis!

I teamed up with a local landscaper this year. My county charges him $50 per load to dump leaves! He's saved over $1000 this season by dropping them behind my garden and I have a massive pile that will turn into beautiful compost. I also put a call out on FB and the Nextdoor app after Halloween for pumpkins, which people dropped off by the dozen. All of that material is breaking down now to the benefit of my soil. It's amazing what people throw away!

@growitbuildit

5 ай бұрын

You struck a goldmine!

So glad for the update!

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are very welcome Pamela - glad you enjoyed it!

Great info! Thank you!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

Great experiment...thanks for sharing. Love the content, always informative.

I have been piling leaves on my garden for a good 30 years now! About 5 years back I had a soil test done. PH was neutral so all those leaves over the years did not make it the least bit acidic. Majority of leaves are maple varieties (silver, Norway and assorted hybrid ones) with cottonwood mixed in from one neighbor’s house. Some folks laugh when they see all the leaves I pile on in the fall, but they are all gone by the end of summer. Robins love flicking leaves around in Spring and nabbing worms.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

That is awesome to hear Ozzy - glad to know you haven't had any pH issues. And very happy to hear you've been doing this so long with great results!

@TrickleCreekFarm

5 ай бұрын

Love the arrival of the Robins!

@kated3165

2 ай бұрын

Leave piles also make good shrew habitat! I leave strategic leaf litter pathways so they can safely access key areas. Little buggers will do away with a massive slug or earwig infestation in no time! Also great at keeping voles and mice away from the house! Plus they are adorable.

Great video! Thank you!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

You are very welcome - I'm happy you enjoyed it Terry!

So helpful. Thanks

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are very welcome

Great video man!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you - just checked out your channel. Nice videos! Question - could you use pitch pine to waterproof something?

Great video and thanks for the multiple year comparisons!

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!

Excellent!!

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you Jose!

I look forward to these videos each year. This is one of the most balanced series out there informing us of the benefits of leaves.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you Adam - I appreciate it.

That is great

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Nice!

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Thanks.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are very welcome

Cool man, I've been doing this for a couple years now, mine often blow away by the spring though I guess having it fenced in helps. just subscribed!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

You are welcome - it's been great for my garden.

I love these videos !

@growitbuildit

3 ай бұрын

Thank you! Glad you are enjoying them.

This is so incredibly informative. Thank you for sharing your findings!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you Honken! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Great video!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Thank you for the great video 🙏.

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

You are very welcome! Glad you found it helpful.

Nice before and after experiment worthy of a research paper.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you! That is my goal, even if I don't take standard measurements!

A very positive message, thanks!

@growitbuildit

5 ай бұрын

You are welcome

Bru love your energy and passion for the garden, I didn't even have a garden

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you! It just gets exciting to be able to take my horrible crappy soil and change it to 7-9" of awesome fertile soil without spending any money.

Thanks for the update! I've been watching your videos since 2019. I was excited when I saw this come up in my KZread feed.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you @sonicclalng! I'm glad you've been enjoying this series. You've been here since the beginning!

Excellent video, thank you.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

Very informative. Thank you.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you - glad you found it helpful!

Great job

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I’ve been doing the same for 5 years now here in eastern Ontario Canada and have the same results as you. Easy and costs nothing but time. ☮️🇨🇦

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Exactly - nothing but time!

Thank you for sharing this great experiment.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

Great idea. I think I will try. Thank you

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you - I bet you'll have great results too.

Awesome video! Thank you for sharing!

@growitbuildit

5 ай бұрын

You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

I watched your other leaf mulch videos this spring and can’t wait to start gathering this fall’s leaf collection as I plan to compost it all and not send it to the curb!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Excellent - good luck Karen!

Hitting the like and dropping a comment , Ty for the excellent content

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you!

I look forward to the update every year

@growitbuildit

4 ай бұрын

It's crazy how deep my nice soil is now. It's by far the best thing I've ever done for my garden

Pretty good 😊

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you Chuck

Been watching your updates on this since like 2021, such a great series

@growitbuildit

5 ай бұрын

Thank you - It's amazing to watch it happen. Crazy how fast it builds up, and is so easy.

This is fantastic, so helpful for everyone who has clay soil and wants to grow a veggie garden. My neighbors have a couple maples, so I've got lots of great leaves for compost. We had a drought here in the Midwest too, and I had a hard time keeping up with watering the veggie garden. Thanks for another great video! 🍂🍁🍂

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you Lisa! That is awesome that you have access to so many leaves next door.

Really interesting! I'm in a very wet windy sluggy but beautiful bit of west Scotland. I'll certainly try a test patch using this method though. Thanks for all your efforts recording and sharing this journey.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you - I bet you will get great results with leaves. Good luck!

Love these videos and cannot believe I’ve watched each year without any effort on my part.

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

That's awesome John - I'm glad you've been enjoying them.

You’re amazing! Such an inspiration! I have just collected dry 🍁 the other day to add to my compost bin.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Great video! I have been using leaf mulch for 10 years in my gardens with great results as well. Can't wait for next spring!

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you - and that is great that you get the same results as I do. I bet your black soil goes very deep.

Leaves are great soil builders. Thanks,

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

You are welcome - and I fully agree, 100%

This is my 3rd year watching this progress and I enjoy it every time

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you JC! Glad you are enjoying it.

Your update of last year opened my eyes to the amount of benefits of leaf mulch. Now in Fall I can finally use this knowledge. My frontyard sports a /thick/ layer of all the maple leaves my street has to offer. Blackbirds go crazy.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

That is perfect - I mostly use Maple leaves, as that is what my neighbors rake up.

Good job👍🏻🥰

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Very useful information, thanks for sharing.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are quite welcome Charles

Great documentation, and it's been really helpful to share your videos with folks who don't understand the power of leaf drop as a soil amendment. I've shared your videos far and wide, and it's been an eye-opener for people every single time they see just how big the transformation can be.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

That is awesome - thank you for sharing the videos. I truly like hearing that they are helpful. It's funny that people don't believe how powerful leaves are. I actually told my parents about them several years ago, and stressed how they should be putting as many as they can on their garden....they were skeptical. This year, they became believers!

@threeriversforge1997

8 ай бұрын

@@growitbuildit It's amazing how people can be. I appreciate you doing the legwork to document the soil change. Your channel is a fantastic resource for folks that need to be shown and not just told.

I love seeing the progress. I've been using leaves as compost in the fall but wondered if I was just giving bugs a place to live. So I appreciate this video, I'm taking it as confirmation what I'm doing is good for my garden.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you Stephanie! Keep using leaves - you will have results like I do.

Thank you for this video. This summer I began thinking about using leaf mulch along with my compost for the first time. I've been waiting for the leaves from my neighbors gigantic oak tree to fall so I can get started. Your video was informative and very timely!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Hi Deon - the oak will provide lots of material for you. One thing to be aware of though, Oak leaves tend to take longer to break down. Now, this isn't something you need to worry about, but just manage your expectations. Everything turns into compost given enough time. If I had a large Oak tree I would use every single leaf in my garden.

I like you give info not mixed with entertainment. Thanks you kindly for sharing.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

You are very welcome Cecilia - I much prefer information over entertainment too. Glad you enjoyed it!

It takes a while but way to go with building up such great soil.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

It has been worth the wait for me. This was the single best thing I've ever done for my garden.

Enjoyed watching this video! I use leaves, too, and have similar results. Great for the soil.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

100% agree & I'm happy to hear you have the same results! And thank you for the kind words!

Very dry summer here in Tampa Florida too! Which is odd because summer is usually by far the wettest time of yr. I love using leaf mulch! Very well done video.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you! This is the first time I really saw the effect of severe drought. Basically half the growing season was extremely dry.

I concur with everyone who thanks you for documenting your use of leaves. Your videos are my biggest gardening find. I moved to a new place and am about to start a new garden. I have the leaves and will incorporate your leaf advice. Thank you so much.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are very welcome Kitty - congrats on your garden and good luck! The leaves are the single best thing you can do.

I think this year I’m going to do this. I just planted a cherry tree out back last night and since I have an over-abundance of leaves as it is, I might as well mulch the heck out of it with leaf litter. All the best to you and yours, Hercules from Dayton

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you Hercules! Use those leaves - it is amazing what they can do!

Great voice, really easy to listen to . Great video

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you Tyrone - I appreciate that

Love this video! I put a small pond and a bug hotel in my garden. They regulate the garden for me.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

I've got a bee hotel, and a HUGE wildflower garden very near my garden. I wonder what my garden would be like without them.

Love this update! I used leaves last fall and the results were amazing. We're fighting drought and the leaves kept the soil soft and moist for much longer than using grass mulch. I'm looking forward to the long term benefits as well.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you! I'm very happy to hear you had the same results as I did. Good luck!

Hi my dear friend thanks so much for another great video another great garden inspiration, hugs and kisses from grandma, Sandy and Debbie

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

You are very welcome - I'm glad you found it helpful!

Very informative and highly interesting thanks. I did my first bed with leaves last year and had good sucess. I will be doing this again this year.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Excellent - glad to hear you had good success too

Wonderful video, always enjoy the experimenting and report of observations that you do. I had clay soil to start with and leaf mulch is what has given us rich organic soil too. Earthworms seem to love the leaves also, it was the leaves and earthworms that converted our hard soil to good black soil. I had wanted to grow cabbages at some point so was interested to hear that slugs like them, I'll stay tuned to see what solutions you might come up with. Also interesting to note the difference in your lawn due to the drought. That's definitely a pretty bad drought. Thanks for the informative post.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you Donna - I will keep doing these updates, as it is valued by many people. Thank you for the feedback. I will try to research some solutions over the Winter and see if I can keep them away, or at least reduce their numbers.

I love the amount of detail and recording, this first hand experience so much more useful than general guides.

@growitbuildit

3 ай бұрын

Thank you! It takes a lot of work, but it doesn't just say what to do but shows actual results!

i'm new to gardening, but you're the first person other than myself i've seen do the sod layer flip for starting a new garden space. glad i wasn't completely crazy! 👍

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

It's an effective method!

I’ve been waiting for this. I was so happy to see this year’s update. I’ve been following ur lead since last year. I started but putting down rotted pumpkins, chicken manure, cardboard, tons of leaves, and topped with woodchips. My area is teeming with worms (& some slugs too). I can’t wait to repeat the leaves and pumpkins. I missed some seeds and inadvertently grew some pumpkins though. It’s looks amazing. I live the updates.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you! And sounds like you've been doing great at adding free fertility too!

@mikeb1039

7 ай бұрын

Cardboard can be iffy as we've pulled up 7-8 year old cardboard that was still intact (not rotted). Like leaves, if stacked in layers the layers smoosh down on each other and CAN (in the right conditions of dryness) make a very dense cellulose material that doesn't rot real well and stops the flow of water downward. FWIW

@Herhighness211

7 ай бұрын

@@mikeb1039 yes. I’m very aware! Early on I had to pull back a leaf carpet of sorts and break it apart. It’s been good so far. The cardboard that I swipe from the local Wawa dumpster area has been doing super good for me. I only use brown/matte boxes.

Look at me, I’m excited over leaves lol! But the results don’t lie!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

EXACTLY!

Thank you for this video. I am starting leaf mulching on my garden space which has sandy loam soil that is almost totally devoid of nutrients. I am so excited to watch this process!

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

This has been the single best thing I've ever done for my soil. I hope you have all the same success that I am having.

Love, love, love this idea. I'm going to have to canvas the neighborhood for friendly donors 😊 I also have heavy clay and I've used leaves in the past but never such a heavy layer. I am on-board for this big time. Thank you!!!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you - I'm glad you enjoyed it. Good luck scoring free leaves!

@peacefulgarden

8 ай бұрын

@@growitbuildit Thank you my friend 😁

We had a very dry summer here on Vancouver Island, too. That caused our big leaf maple to start dropping crispy leaves in August. We collected them right away before any rain hit them -- resulting in slug free leaves. I use this for bedding in my worm bins. Now that the remaining leaves are falling and the rain has begun, we'll make leaf mold for our garden in giant mattress bags. No leaf goes unused! ~ Sandra

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

That is excellent - I fell the same way about leaves. The majority of my trees that surround my property are Black Locust, and they are too small to rake. So I have to gather all of mine.

@steveladd1

6 ай бұрын

@@growitbuilditf😊mm😊

I have been watching our videos and each year I look forward to the leaf update! I too mulch with as many leafs as time and weather allows me to gather in the winter for my garden. I began my first couple years with having some slug problems but after that my slug problems had gone. I put down wood chips as walking paths and avoid walking on the leaf areas to aleviate compaction. Chips for walking, leaves for growing. The woodchips provide homes and shelters for many kinds of ground beetles. A predator for slugs. Let them move in gradually and take care of your slug problem for you. If I worried about losing produce to slugs, I planted a couple extra just in case.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Thank you and thank you for the tip. This was really the first time I had ever seen slugs in my garden.

Your channel has me proselytizing the virtues of leaves! I've recommended your videos to anyone having garden trouble. I'm a big believer in the K.I.S.S. method to gardening (keep it simple) and for most problems people have in the vegetable patch- compost is the answer. Especially if you can compost in place. Win win

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Absolutely KEEP IT SIMPLE. And thank you for recommending my videos - I truly appreciate it.

I use Sluggo. It's organic and seems to work good. Great video. I do leaf composting and then put it in my raised beds when I put them to bed for the winter. Thanks for sharing.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

I'll have to check out Sluggo - thank you for the tip. And thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

I have had amazing results shredding the leaves

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Leaves are the best, easiest, and cheapest way to build soil.

I’ve been doing this for years. People think I’m crazy, but it’s so good for the garden!

@growitbuildit

Ай бұрын

Let them think your crazy - it's their loss!

Lesson learned! I will no longer have my leaves bagged and taken away as yard waste. Thanks for sharing.

@growitbuildit

4 ай бұрын

Excellent - you won't regret it!

Thanks for the update. I did this last fall after watching your videos in all my raised beds. In the spring, my neighbors observed all the worm and insect life and how the soil looked great underneath the layer of leaf mulch. I just moved mulch aside to plant and sowed seeds with good success. In 2024 I will use your idea of using boards to help the process. I enjoyed the lack of weeds, watered less, had great yields, and by this fall the leaves were mostly decomposed and ready for a layer of compost and a new layer of leaf mulch. I shredded some leaves, but I'm experimenting with putting the leaves down on some beds without shredding. Using leaf mulch along with a no dig organic approach makes me feel like a pretty lazy gardener! My neighbors are now using the same method you've shown in your videos. Thanks again!

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

This is just about the best comment I could ever get on leaf mulch. Thank you!

2" per year is incredible... bravo!

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

It is awesome - the single best thing I've done for my soil.

For years, I have driven the neighborhood and stuffed as many bags of leaves in my small SUV as I could for use on the veggie beds with any excess stored in a big wire fence bin to be used during the growing season. As I am getting older, I can't keep up with an active compost pile, so I sheet compost on the beds with the leaves, plant trimmings and kitchen scraps. I grind up the kitchen scraps with water in a blender and pour it over the leaves. The worms take care of the rest. This is especially good in winter. Come spring planting time, there's a nice compost layer and tone of worms under the leaf mulch.

@growitbuildit

4 ай бұрын

Sounds like you've developed a good system that gives great results

I have a very small lawn and raised beds for my vegetables. I put all of my grass clippings (about 1/2“ or so) in my raised be as mulch. In fall I put about 2-3 inches for stay there over winter. In the spring I turn that into the soil. A game changer.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

I'm certain it does. Organic matter, in whatever form you can get it, makes all the difference of the world.

I've been doing this for a few years and it is amazing how the black gold soil that it produces.

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

It is the single best thing you can do for your garden

This is exciting! Last yearwas my first year in a home surrounded by forest, so the leaf situation was overwhelming. But we just bought a leaf vacuum/mulcher so I can actually use the leaves instead of just blowing back into the forest. So excited for the next few years of building up my garden soil!

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

That is awesome - good luck this season Erin. I hope the leaves do well by you!

@nosajsamaniego4512

8 ай бұрын

U r gorgeous;

@SeattlePioneer

7 ай бұрын

Heh, heh! You don't often find people getting excited over leaf mulch! That's probably an indicator of happiness and contentment in life, I'm guessing.

This is super fascinating. It’s basically a slower version of no dig where rather than adding compost every year you’re adding more leaves that eventually become compost. If I was a more patient man I would probably do this lol

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

I guess you could call me a lazy man then. Just using my in-ground soil!

Outstanding video. I usually use compost, leaves and green manures in my garden and orchard. The garden is broken in half; one half is left fallow every year and planted with a cover crop of red clover. The combination of compost/cover cropping and leaves/grass clippings makes for tremendous soil buildup.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

That sounds like an awesome system you've got there Richard.

I was wondering whether I should put compost and leaves and this video shows me I should add both. Thank you.

@growitbuildit

6 ай бұрын

You are very welcome - because of my experience over the last several years, it has become my policy to use any and all organic matter on top of my soil. It just works.

Leaves + grass is a way better mix. Much more rapid decomposition, and you’ll also get a lot of worms

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

I'm actually happy with the slow decomposition. My results are great, and I like not having to weed anything all season.

Like I tell all new gardeners make a new garden 5x bigger then what you think you'll want because you'll want to expand down the road.

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Hahaha - truth!

Great video! I can see dry leaves working very well in areas of increased moisture 3 out of the 4 seasons, anywhere else it the leaves will probably be blown away. In drier areas it's still better to use after composting (even if half done)

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

Fair point. The leaves I mostly get have been sucked through a lawn mower and then bagged. This makes them very pliable, but also interlocked. So they seem to not really blow much at all. Perhaps driving over them or walking could help.

Now that I am retired from work and have a lot of time to start growing Fruit and vegies. I now listen and watch Gurus like You. Great info about a great subject. This morning I have commenced building an appropriate sized Composting Bin. I do understand your tutorial on the benefits of Leaf Composting and Leaf Mold. Thanks seriously for You Info. Yes I am now subscribed.

@growitbuildit

2 ай бұрын

Excellent - I'm very happy I could help you out Harry. And it sounds like you are getting off to a good start - good luck this season!

I don't have a lot of leaves in my yard but I do bag my grass when I mow, and I fill up several Jet Sleds with dead, dry seaweed from the beach. I mulch and bag the seaweed with my lawn mower and cover my gardens with it and it adds so much to the soil.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Wow - that seaweed sounds like a great resource.

Hey man! I've been doing the exact same thing for no reason whatsoever for almost the same amount of time. The past 5 years I've just been taking the leaves and putting in my gardens and flower beds. I've always suspected that this is the smart thing to do mostly for weed control. But over the years I've noticed how nutrient-rich those garden beds have become. And anything that I plant in them grows like crazy. People should start paying more attention to things like this and I appreciate coming across you and reaffirming my suspicions that I am correct. The only thing you did that I haven't is dig it up and measure. I just keep doing it and it keeps working.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

That is awesome Thomas - love hearing from people who have been having the same success I have! Keep doing it and happy gardening!

Just plant a few extra cabbage to off-set any losses due to the slugs, imo! Thanks for sharing all this high-quality information. Subscribed ;)

@growitbuildit

8 ай бұрын

I grew waaaay to many cabbages! I was eating it for lunch for quite some time (plus sauerkraut!). But I take your point, and will likely continue to do so.

I do the leaves in the fall, grass clipping all summer.

@growitbuildit

3 ай бұрын

Sounds like you've got a good system going.

great video. I'am a firm believer in using mulched up leaves around all my plants. We store 4 or 5 55 gallon drums of mulch leaves for our spring planting, They do a great job of keeping the weeds at bay, keep the veggie roots cool and moist throughout the summer

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

Thank you - Glad to hear you are having similar success as me with leaves

I've really enjoyed following your progress. I started using deep leaf mulch last fall in my in-ground beds and a 32" high raised bed. In my in-ground beds I had results similar to yours, about 2-3" of obvious soil improvement and I noticed a lot more worm activity. In the 32" raised bed I didn't really notice much difference in the soil because the top 10" was already homemade compost. What I did notice though was an UNREAL increase in worms. There were already a few worms in this bed but with it being so tall I didn't expect a lot. After adding the leaves last fall the worm population exploded! Between the leaf mulch and all the worm castings I had better production from that bed than ever before and I didn't have to add any fertilizer. I just put all my beds to bed for winter and topped them all off with about 8" of leaves and covered them with bird netting to keep the squirrels from trying to start a walnut farm in my backyard.

@growitbuildit

7 ай бұрын

That is awesome Randy - Glad to hear your in-ground had a big improvement. And that is really interesting on the 'explosion' of worms in your raised beds.

@cowboyblacksmith

7 ай бұрын

Ha ha, I have black walnut trees I never planted too from squirrels, pull them out a lot. I've collected roadside bags 30 so far and mulched up more than half with my weed whacker and piled high to break down until done. I also mulched with freshly fallen leaves all of my beds, something I hadn't before. Worms go crazy over leaves! I added bokashi to my garlic beds and man oh man are there ever a ton of worms, it's vermicompost central whereas the non bokashi added beds just normal. Between the leaf mold and plain leaves, bokashi and compost and a cover crop of black eyed "peas", I expect that soil next Spring to be amazing. I can't get enough of leaves even though I collect a lot, they’re such a limited time to collect I simply hoard them. I always reserve some bags to mulch up when I plant new crops, easy and cheap way to mulch and you get the added benefit of soil amendment when they break down.