Adding Grass Cuttings and Leaves to the Compost Pile

What good are grass cuttings? How fast do they decay? Clippings make satisfactory compost. If layered with soil in thin layers (4 ins. of soil and 2 ins. of clippings), or added to a mixed heap, a compost will be ready in less than a year.

Do the hulls (not shells) from hickory nuts cause soil acidity? We have 3 hickory trees on a double lot and don't know whether to put the hulls into the compost pile or burn them. Hickory and walnut hulls contain a chemical that is toxic to plants, so should not be added to the compost pile.

Should the leaves for compost be rotted? It is best to have them at least partly rotted before placing them in compost heap. If not, it is likely to take a full year for them to decompose, unless manure or peat moss is also used in the compost pile.

Are elm leaves good to use on the compost heap? Yes.

How do you make fertilizer out of maple leaves? Add to compost heap in the same way as other leaves.

Should anything be used with leaves for compost? Compost or peat moss, lime, and complete fertilizers. Leaves are low in plant nutrients and must have added fertilizer to be of much use.

What can be added to accumulated leaves in the fall to hasten decomposition? Make a pile 4 ft. wide and any desired length. Each layer of leaves 12 ins. deep should be sprinkled with a complete commercial fertilizer at the rate of a pint per bushel of leaves.

Is soil put on the compost pile (made largely of leaves) to help decomposition? Yes.

Will this fall's leaves be fertilizer by next spring? Can anything be done to hurry the process? Not that soon. It will take about a year. Leaves saved from fall and composted in the spring may make good leaf mold by fall.

Much has been said about the value of a compost of rotted leaves. I understand that some leaves, due to high acid content, have practically no value as manure. Which should be burned and which should be saved? Leaf mold from most trees is only slightly, if at all, acid. This reference is to leaves of deciduous trees. Evergreens, however, will produce acid leaf mold. The use of lime is an easy way to correct any such acidity.

Are the ashes from burned leaves and grass cuttings of any benefit, or of as much benefit, as those same leaves and cuttings if they were permitted to decay? No. If leaves and clippings are made into a compost, they serve a much better purpose than when burned.