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How to Make Leaf Mould
Leaf mould is compost made only from decayed leaves. If you have deciduous trees and shrubs in your garden and enough space, it's worth making a separate heap of leaves next to your compost area. If your garden is really small, use black plastic rubbish bags. Rake up leaves and put them straight into plastic sacks, filling them about three-quarters full. Add a leaf-mould activator (e.g. Biotal) if you wish. Shake the bag, then tie up the top. Pierce the sides a few times to make holes. You'll still need a space to tuck the bags away for the year that it takes for the leaves to break down. If you have the space make a bin container.
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To make a leaf mould bin: 4 pressure treated timber posts, 50mm x 500mm x 1.2m in length tree stakes are good as they come with a pointed end; a lump hammer; a piece of thick wood; roll of galvanised chicken mesh, about 90cms wide; gardening gloves; metal fencing staples, a hammer; string or canes; a rake; a wheelbarrow or large garden refuse sheet; some garden soil; a fork; an old piece of carpet or black plastic.
Optional: an activator that helps speed up the breakdown of leaves.
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Leaf mould bin: hammer the back two posts into the ground, spaced a metre apart. Protect the top of the posts with the thicker piece of wood as you do this. Use string guidelines, or lay canes on the ground to position the front two posts square to the back ones. Hammer the front posts into the ground, making the tops level with the back ones.
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Unroll the galvanised chicken mesh. Put it in place by securing it around one of the front posts, then take it around the back, finishing at the other front post. You may find it easier to have help from another person doing this.
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Use the fencing staples to fix the mesh to the first post, stretching it tight down the length of the post. Then stretch the mesh tight around the first back post and secure it. Use at least three staples spaced down the post. Repeat this process twice more to make a three sided bin.
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Rake up leaves and collect into a barrow or garden refuse sheet. If you're raking up leaves from borders, including a little soil will be inevitable, this is not a problem. Mixing up different types of leaves is all right too, but avoid holly leaves as they take a long time to break down.
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Layer the leaves into the mesh-sided bin. Spread each layer evenly. Old compost from containers can be emptied and spread as a layer between leaves. Or if you have a separate pile of garden soil, add this instead in layers. Cover the top of the pile with a piece of old carpet, or black plastic. You'll need to weight this down.
Optional: a manufactured activator can be added as you build up the pile. Follow the manufacturer's instructions if using one of these.
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Put the four corner posts into place |
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Stretch the metal mesh between the posts and fix |
Pile the leaves into the bin and cover with old carpet |
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