I don't compost because I only have half an acre of land and I've crammed five acres' worth of plants onto it, so I don't have a spare inch for a compost pile.
I don't bother raking up the leaves, however, so they do produce a form of compost wherever they land.
Name: Stormy Valley Forge Pa I Love MAM ~ So Happy Together
ZuZu Thanks, Last year was the first year that I didn't separate them from the leaves to be composted. I only have so much room for compost. The rest of my leaves get shreaded and reapplied as mulch in my shade beds. So far I haven't seen anymore plants withering than normal.
Your results also show that I've spent a lot of time raking and separating those leaves for nothing.
Walnut leaves can be composted because the juglone toxin breaks down when exposed to air, water and bacteria. The toxic effect can be degraded in two to four weeks. In the soil, breakdown may take up to two months after the living walnut tree has been removed. Mulch or woodchips from black walnut are not recommended for plants sensitive to juglone. However, composting the woodchips for a minimum of six months allows the chemical to break down to a safe level even for plants sensitive to juglone.
I do that with a couple of my cubits too. Some of them are so highly specialized that we seem to say everything we have to say about the topic very quickly.
Name: Stormy Valley Forge Pa I Love MAM ~ So Happy Together
ZuZu, it is so weird, I keep getting search strings coming across in my MAM cubit looking for info on Black Walnut & Juglone, but haven't gotten a one in this cubit. Isn't that odd?
Odder than odd. The whole search string feature leaves me puzzled sometimes. It's hard to understand how some searches would lead to some of my cubits, but I suppose I should just be grateful for the traffic.
Our city picks up garden waste and it goes into great big composting machines. I would be bent over forever if I tried separating them out from the rest of the leaves! Sometimes they end up in garden beds to protect perennials over the winter. That's likely why our garden beds in the back of the house are perennial killers. So, I've stopped putting "testers" in the ground and am developing a nice array of lilies and hosta.
Been composting BW leaves hulls and chips for years (I do have a extra pile for the hulls and (only) add them after a 3 year time period giving them time to leach out other than that I mulch and burn with the heat it creates in my pile about a 2 tone and it goes on the next season or two .
If you garden under Walnut trees, this is the place for you. Come see which plants will survive the Juglone and get ideas of what to do with all of those walnuts!
