How far down do the leaves need to be broken? I will be planting my first vegetable garden this year. I found several garbage cans full of leaves on the side of our house.We weren’t even thinking about mulch so they just sat there over the winter. Mostly dry on top with more wet leaves at the bottom. None were really broken down except at the very bottom. (They all had drain holes except one. That one was very rotty and bad smelling, probably not usable)
Can you just till in the leaves if they aren’t broken down yet, or will that cause problems?
Love the thread JaDB, thanks!
Boxlunch, I found an article written by a master gardener that you should check out. I also emailed them about needing to mow the leaves, and they replied....
“Letting the leaves fall where they may, works very well. The advantage to cutting-up/going over the leaves with a mower is that it helps/quickens the decomposition process, but it is usually not necessary. Personally, I leave the leaves on the flower beds/garden i.e., where they fall, but mow (mulching mower) the ones that fall on the lawn (feeds the lawn and saves raking them up). Note: Oak leaves are very slow to decompose so you may choose to chop them before spreading on your flower beds/garden.”
http://mgottawa.mgoi.ca/media/Trowel_Talk_—_February_2012.pdf
That is what I’m going to try this year.
You are correct that the bad smelling ones should not be used. Bad smell is a sure sign that anaerobic bacteria is present, and you do not want that in the garden.
Not sure the area of your garden, but you may not want to use all of the leaves you have. Several garbage cans sounds like a lot. Maybe you could compost the ones you don't use immediately.