Fallen leaves are a real treasure that nature generously gifts us with every autumn. But not everyone knows how to manage it.

Even a small layer of foliage protects the soil from sharp temperature fluctuations in winter, prevents the evaporation of life-giving melt water in the spring, and by summer it disappears imperceptibly, becoming food for the invisible workers of the soil - earthworms. As a result, fallen leaves turn into vermicompost, thereby replenishing nutrients that consume plant roots.

Works like a thermos

Carry out a small experiment: when the surface of the earth freezes after the first frost, dig up a layer of leaves. To your surprise, the soil underneath will be soft. Like a warm blanket, fallen leaves retain the warmth of the ground, preventing it from freezing too much. This, by the way, is used by all kinds of small animals that spend the winter under such natural shelter.

In spring, the leaves prevent the top layer of soil from heating up too quickly and it is useless to evaporate melt water, which is so life-giving for plants. And the task of any farmer is to keep it in the soil for as long as possible.

But this moisture-retaining effect of fallen leaves does not last long. When the soil warms up to 10 degrees, from hibernation wake up earthworms and immediately begin to actively feed on plant debris that they can only find on the surface of the earth. That is why the soil under fallen leaves is always loose - because it is riddled with numerous passages of underground inhabitants. By the beginning of summer, the carpet of leaves is usually only memories. But these memories are pleasant. After all, the leaves, passing through digestive system earthworms become the most valuable vermicompost for plants.

Gives soil fertility

It must be said that this was noticed by the founder of Russian agricultural science, Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov, back in the 18th century. In one of his works, he wrote: “A leaf from a tree, when it rots, serves almost as well as manure.” It was probably Bolotov’s works that guided the monks of the Valaam Monastery, who organized famous gardens on a once barren rocky island. They piled fallen leaves and branches in a thick layer on a stone surface and waited patiently for several years. After rotting plant residues the resulting soil could well compete with chernozem in its properties.

Composting fallen leaves is a must for every diligent gardener. Leaf humus is a valuable fertilizer, but at the same time it is completely free.

However, you can use foliage as a mulching material. If you carefully spread it around the strawberry bushes in a thick enough layer, then in the summer next year You don’t have to worry that the berries will get dirty with soil - they will lie on leaves washed by rain and watering. Of course, straw is usually used to mulch strawberries, but it is not always possible to get it, and buying it means incurring additional costs.

Raking and throwing away leaves is barbaric!

Bulbs of tulips, lilies, daffodils and other flowers often freeze out in winters with little snow. A cover of leaves will successfully protect bulbous plants from the cold. However, in the spring, immediately after the snow melts, it must be removed so as not to interfere with the germination of flower stalks. But under the bushes of raspberries, currants, gooseberries, fallen leaves, on the contrary, can be sprinkled, and more - so the grass around them will not grow, and the earth will be saturated with all the necessary nutrients.

The barbaric raking of leaves in cities is a sore subject for ecologists, biologists and simply concerned people. Many articles have been written on this topic, but officials, in their desire to curry favor, do not pay attention to any arguments. Probably the reason for this is banal: nothing personal, just business. If you count the cost of collecting leaves, the plastic bags in which they are put, removing bins, paying for a landfill - on the scale of a metropolis, you get astronomical figures. Can any environmental arguments outweigh them?

The material was published in the Sobesednik publication No. 37-2018 under the title “Crimson and Gold for the Garden.”

In autumn on garden plot many fallen yellow leaves. Collecting fallen leaves is a job that takes time and energy. Collected leaves you need to store them somewhere or somehow get rid of them. Read about what you can make from fallen autumn leaves

Photo on the left: M. Kuzmenko. : Hydrangea - winter shelter in open ground. Frame with mesh and thermal insulation.

Use dry leaves as a warming and heat-insulating material for covering roses, hydrangeas and other heat-loving shrubs, as well as plants in pots and containers for the winter.

Leave fallen leaves near the fence and under trees in the far corners of the garden, especially if your site is located near the forest. IN dry fallen leaves Hedgehogs love to settle in to spend their winter hibernation in warmth and comfort.

To quickly and without problems remove leaves from the lawn, in dry weather, walk over it with a lawn mower with the basket removed. Shredded leaves will remain on the grass and will soon simply disappear into the soil under the lawn, while improving its quality.

Mix crushed fallen leaves deciduous (not evergreen!) trees with annual weeds. Weeds must be without roots and without flowers/seeds. Place everything in a plastic bag and leave for composting. Shake the bag or stir the contents periodically to ensure even distribution. When the decomposition period is over, you will be left with fine, high-quality soil for seedlings and indoor plants.

Material: Oksana Jeter, CountrysideLiving.net

Among the abundance of modern fertilizers, gardeners prefer the constant classics - natural organic matter, positive action which has been tested by more than one generation of predecessors. Fallen leaves occupy a special place among such fertilizers. This natural organic matter does not require capital investment, and in terms of impact it is equal to bird droppings and mullein.

Foliage as fertilizer

Fallen leaves are rightfully considered a storehouse of fiber and a free source of a rather rare microelement - silicon.

By rotting, deciduous raw materials turn into valuable organic fertilizer, for which gardeners value it. Earthworms also love to settle in rotting foliage. Gardeners use fallen leaves specifically for breeding worms and other useful living creatures on their plots.

Humus based on leaves is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. In terms of the quantitative composition of these macroelements, it is equal to cow manure. In addition, leaf humus perfectly mulches the soil, and is also a natural acidifier - an essential component normal height and development of acidophilic plants.

If there are a lot of trees on the site, then leaf litter can be successfully used for feeding garden crops. Thus, alder is considered the most valuable in terms of the content of nutrients; birch and maple are slightly inferior to it.

Can it be used?

Feeding based on fallen leaves contains not only the main macroelements (nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus), but also essential microelements: iron and magnesium, silicon, calcium and sulfur.

All these components are extremely important not only for garden crops, but also for the soil. Leaf litter perfectly loosens the soil and improves air and water permeability. Besides, they like to huddle in it earthworms– useful and hardworking inhabitants of personal plots.

Positive properties:

• fertilizes the soil.
• serves as a natural covering material that protects plants from freezing in winter.
• fallen leaves, reheating, improve the structure of the soil.
• serves as food for earthworms.

Negative properties:

• over-rotted foliage is a breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria and pests.
• it is difficult to see and eliminate all infected leaves. If this is not done, leaf humus will become a real breeding ground for diseases.

How to prepare fertilizer?

There are many ways to prepare high-quality organic matter from fallen leaves, but most often gardeners make humus, compost, mulch and ash from it.

Humus

To prepare high-quality leaf humus, the raw materials are collected and placed in a container (you can use old barrel) and compacted. There is no need to close it. If there is no suitable container, the leaves are placed in thick bags, not forgetting to make small holes in several places. Garden stores sell special bags for creating humus. Containers (or bags) with foliage are placed in the most moist corner of the site. The humus will be ready for use in about a year or two. In 2-3 years it will turn into real humus.

Compost

Its manufacture requires following certain rules. It is worth considering the rate of decay of foliage different types trees. For example, oak leaves decompose more slowly than birch and linden leaves.

To speed up the overheating of the foliage, it should be stirred regularly, increasing air access. Or prepare a nitrogen-containing solution for irrigation, which accelerates the decomposition processes.

If the foliage was not removed in winter, this is done in the spring. Organic waste should not be burned or thrown away. He is sent to compost heap. This raw material will decompose faster, since it has already been under the snow and mixed in the soil. In addition, microorganisms have already settled there, accelerating overheating.

Compost is prepared in a heap or pit. After it is completely overheated, the most valuable organic fertilizer is applied to berry fields, flowers, and fruit trees.

Ash

If there are doubts about the quality of sheet raw materials, then it is wiser to dry and burn it. Fire will destroy all diseases, as well as pests at different stages of development. When the leaves burn, hydrocarbon, oxygen and nitrogen disappear, leaving: 25% calcium, 15% potassium, 4% phosphorus, a small amount of magnesium and iron, zinc and sulfur, manganese and boron, copper and strontium.

The significant calcium content turns ash into a valuable deoxidizer, which is necessary for many garden and garden crops. Potassium in the ash is in a form that is easy for plants to absorb. This mineral fertilizer is applied before digging up the garden (up to 300 g per sq. m.), and is also poured into holes during planting and when forming compost heaps.

Mulch

Fallen leaves are also used as natural mulch. For this purpose in autumn period wet biomaterial is laid out on the ground. It prevents the growth of weeds, protects the soil from freezing, weathering, and evaporation of nutrients.

In addition, mulch blocks the sun's rays. This is especially true for aluminas, which are subject to inevitable corking. In the spring, the leaves are raked and placed in a compost heap or buried in the ground when digging.

For the first few years, mulched beds will need nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Manure or slurry is perfect. But from making mineral fertilizers It is better to refuse, as they will have a detrimental effect on the activity of earthworms.

Note. With the advent of natural humus, there is no need for any other fertilizers.

Fallen leaves serve as high-quality insulation, which will help roses, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, and other berries to successfully overwinter. Beneficial microorganisms, earthworms, which improve the structure of the soil and accelerate the process of decomposition of organic matter, overwinter well in mulch.

Large foliage of chestnut or maple is best suited for winter shelter. Smaller biomaterial strongly cakes and blocks the access of oxygen, which is undesirable for plants.

Fallen leaves are a real treasure that nature generously gifts us with every autumn. But not everyone knows how to manage it.

Even a small layer of foliage protects the soil from sharp temperature fluctuations in winter, prevents the evaporation of life-giving melt water in the spring, and by summer it disappears imperceptibly, becoming food for the invisible workers of the soil - earthworms. As a result, fallen leaves turn into vermicompost, thereby replenishing the nutrients consumed by plant roots.

Works like a thermos

Carry out a small experiment: when the surface of the earth freezes after the first frost, dig up a layer of leaves. To your surprise, the soil underneath will be soft. Like a warm blanket, fallen leaves retain the warmth of the ground, preventing it from freezing too much. This, by the way, is used by all kinds of small animals that spend the winter under such natural shelter.

In spring, the leaves prevent the top layer of soil from heating up too quickly and it is useless to evaporate melt water, which is so life-giving for plants. And the task of any farmer is to keep it in the soil for as long as possible.

But this moisture-retaining effect of fallen leaves does not last long. When the soil warms up to 10 degrees, earthworms wake up from hibernation and immediately begin to actively feed on plant debris that they can find on the surface of the earth. That is why the soil under fallen leaves is always loose - because it is riddled with numerous passages of underground inhabitants. By the beginning of summer, the carpet of leaves is usually only memories. But these memories are pleasant. After all, the leaves, having passed through the digestive system of earthworms, become the most valuable vermicompost for plants.

Gives soil fertility

It must be said that this was noticed by the founder of Russian agricultural science, Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov, back in the 18th century. In one of his works, he wrote: “A leaf from a tree, when it rots, serves almost as well as manure.” It was probably Bolotov’s works that guided the monks of the Valaam Monastery, who built the famous gardens on the once barren rocky island. They piled fallen leaves and branches in a thick layer on a stone surface and waited patiently for several years. After the decay of plant residues, the resulting soil could easily compete with chernozem in its properties.

Composting fallen leaves is a must for every diligent gardener. Leaf humus is a valuable fertilizer, but at the same time it is completely free.

However, you can use foliage as a mulching material. If you carefully spread it around the strawberry bushes in a thick enough layer, then next summer you won’t have to worry that the berries will get dirty with soil - they will lie on leaves washed by rains and watering. Of course, straw is usually used to mulch strawberries, but it is not always possible to get it, and buying it means incurring additional costs.

Raking and throwing away leaves is barbaric!

Bulbs of tulips, lilies, daffodils and other flowers often freeze out in winters with little snow. A cover of leaves will successfully protect bulbous plants from the cold. However, in the spring, immediately after the snow melts, it must be removed so as not to interfere with the germination of flower stalks. But under the bushes of raspberries, currants, gooseberries, fallen leaves, on the contrary, can be sprinkled, and more - so the grass around them will not grow, and the earth will be saturated with all the necessary nutrients.

The barbaric raking of leaves in cities is a sore subject for ecologists, biologists and simply concerned people. Many articles have been written on this topic, but officials, in their desire to curry favor, do not pay attention to any arguments. Probably the reason for this is banal: nothing personal, just business. If you count the cost of collecting leaves, the plastic bags in which they are put, removing bins, paying for a landfill - on the scale of a metropolis, you get astronomical figures. Can any environmental arguments outweigh them?

Mikhail Vorobiev

The material was published in the Sobesednik publication No. 37-2018 under the title “Crimson and Gold for the Garden.”

The main decoration of autumn is the yellow carpet of fallen leaves, which envelops the earth like a warm blanket and prepares nature for winter sleep. Maybe it’s not worth removing this natural cover provided by nature itself?

There are several opinions on the issue of collecting fallen leaves.

On the part of forestry, there is a confident opinion, with which it is difficult to disagree, that leaves are for wild trees a natural shelter from frost, a fertilizer and moisture-distributing layer for the soil, and nutrients for the beneficial inhabitants of the earth. We can conclude that our janitors are definitely wrong when they remove leaves and thereby leave the soil and everything that is not in it defenseless.

What about gardeners? Here opinions are divided.

Positive qualities of fallen leaves

• Natural covering material for horses.
• Fertilizer in the soil
• Leaves in the soil improve its structure.
• Food for earthworms

Negative qualities of fallen leaves

• A breeding ground for pests and diseases.

We can say for sure that fallen leaves are valuable and free material for a gardener. But, under no circumstances, do not use leaves from diseased trees; such foliage should be destroyed. Do not burn leaves - it is dangerous both for you and for nature. Smoke from burning leaves can cause irritation of the mucous membranes, allergic reactions. When burned, the leaves release benzopyrene, which can cause cancer. Diseased foliage should be buried in the soil in an unused corner of the site than deeper topics It’s better to forget about this place for a few years.

Ways to Use Healthy Foliage

1. Covering perennials and beds with winter sowing. Raspberries, whose roots are located quite close to the soil surface, will be very grateful to you. Please note that it is best to use wild tree leaves for this, but do not use oak or chestnut foliage.
2. Use as an additional layer for drainage when planting trees and shrubs. Leaves can be used to make leaf soil. It is so nutritious, but light and fluffy.
3. Bury the leaves in the ground as an all-purpose fertilizer. Leaves must be buried at least 20 cm deep to remove pests. After a few years, you can do a deep digging of the entire area on the territory of which leaf humus was laid. Small twigs can also be added to the soil, but do not allow the carrion of fruiting plants to fall into the soil.
4. Fallen leaves are an excellent component for creating warm beds, the purpose of which is the heat generated when microorganisms multiply during the process of decay. Warm bed consists of several layers of organic components, one of which is fallen leaves.

The leaves take a very long time to rot. Therefore, it is advisable to use them in a compost pit in conjunction with special biological preparations, which, thanks to microelements, will accelerate the decomposition process.

Pay attention to:

• Do not use foliage from diseased trees and ensure that tree carrion does not get into the leaves.
• Remove leaves from your green lawn that could damage it.
• If the foliage was collected from healthy plants, and you are afraid of pests, then put all the fallen leaves in bags and leave them for the winter - the pests will go away on their own.
• To make the compost ripen faster, transfer the leaves several times with the addition of microelements.
• Oak and chestnut leaves are unsuitable - they contain a lot of tannins, which negatively affects root system and rate of decomposition.
• If you are using leaf litter on clay soils, make a mush out of it before adding it. clay soil and water. Spill the leaves with this solution so that they not only rot, but also form useful humus.