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UK: How to make leaf mould, and why you should use it in your garden

Once rotted down, leaves offer vital nutrients and minerals to soil and plants.

When it comes to multipurpose goodness for the soil in your garden or allotment, nothing beats leaf mould

By John Walker
The Telegraph
2 December 2021

Excerpt:

Using my half-inch (13mm) sieve results in a more refined mould, free of even small twigs. It’s this I covet because it has become a mainstay (along with garden compost) of my soil-building programme.

Each spring, I try to spread a bucketful of leaf mould to each square yard (or square metre), and fork it in 4-6in (10-15cm) deep (which works for my minimal-dig beds). Leaf mould helps bind loose, sandy soils and improves their water-holding ability. Conversely, it helps break up tough, claggy clays, making them more gardener friendly.

If you have a lot of ground to improve and sieving is impractical, take your leaf mould out as it comes, remove hard chunks of debris, and fork or dig it in.

Leaf mould is low on fast-acting plant nutrients; its effect is more of a catalysing one that encourages a healthy soil ecosystem in which everything works together to feed plants gradually and slowly. Soils bolstered with leaf mould become slowly darker in colour as their humus levels increase.

Read the complete article here.