Cultivation > Composts

Will sycamore be a good leaf mould ?

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newstart:
I have a big Sycamore tree which is at the bottom of our street about 15 m from my house very close to my property. Is this ideal for making leaf mould. It often starts to turn dry in november , december so would rot down quicker if collected then. I have looked at the open mesh round compost bins to contain this. Should it be pressed down slightly or quite hard in terms of air space. 

I could be very popular with my street as the council rarely disposes of the leaves. Could be great news all round.

Thanks David.

Ian Y:
David there is good news and bad news.

The bad news is that sycamore is not the best leaves to make leafmould with as they tend to take a longer time to break down than many others.

The good news is that if you can run them through a shredder or chop them up with your lawn mower first then they break down quicker and make good leafmould.

It is vital to make sure they are always kept moist or they will not break down - and I place a weight on top of my leafmould to keep it pressed together.

newstart:
Are we talking 2-3 years for the leaves to break down? Are the leaves essentially meant to be put in with little pressure on top for good air space. You mentioned a weight on top ,but how heavy, or how much this presses down can make a difference I would of thought?

Thanks again David

Ian Y:
I would expect shredded sycamore leaves to be usable after 1 to 2 years.
I do not leave much in the way of air space in our leafmould heap moisture is more important and there is normally always going to be enough air.
I weigh it down with a cement building block or rock on a mesh grid.
Check out these references in the bulb log.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/031203/log.html

http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2005/231105/log.html

newstart:
I will assume that when its black its ready ? Do I need to add any soil to it to speed up the process or can any other composts speed up the process. i have some old compost maker which I think could accelerate the process. Would this help possibly?

Thanks that should be it.

David.

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