Leafmould

What is leafmould? 

Leafmould is the compost that is produced by the breakdown of leaves over time. While it doesn’t contain a huge amount of nutrients, it will still add some nutrients to your soil, and is a great soil conditioner.

How do you make leafmould?

Rake up fallen leaves.

Then you can put them into bin bags, make holes in the bag to allow airflow, tie the top and leave them for up to a couple of years. You could use any bag for this, they don’t have to be bin bags.

Or you can put them in a pile somewhere, surrounding them with wire or fence or something to stop them blowing away, and leave them for up to a couple of years. This is what I personally do, and I have some wire fencing and some old tyres surrounding my pile.

How long does it take to produce?

Assuming you collect the leaves in autumn when they fall, by the time spring comes around it may have broken down enough to add to the top of your soil (as a thin mulch layer) or to dig in, as it will further break down once there.

If you want good quality leafmould to use it as a seed or potting mix, then it will want to be fully rotted down, and it will probably take 2 years. I personally just add my leafmould to the soil either mixing in or just sprinkling on top, and I use the compost I make (or bought compost) for seeds and potting.

Turning the pile regularly can speed up the decomposition process.

You can collect the leaves with a rotary mower to speed up the process as it will shred the leaves. The added grass clippings may also speed up the process, and will provide nitrogen to the compost.

You can find a short video on making leafmould here.