The Message Board

RE: do eucalyptus leaves make good mulch for garden beds

Posted 724 days ago

Yes, your friend is right, as a Viccy you will know the volatility of gum trees, those leaves are like gun powder, best place for them is underground or at the tip.
It would only take a cigarette butt under your plants to set them alight.

They don't break down, just stay there, and I don't think they add anything to the soil.

Can be a pain to forever be raking them up, but I do that, put them into plastic bags and take them to the tip. They are a fire hazard. I'd love to burn them, but we're not allowed to that up here.

However if you have a mulcher that may be a good way of scattering them. (turns 'em into dust!)
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Hobby farming when not Grey Nomadding

RE: do eucalyptus leaves make good mulch for garden beds

Posted 724 days ago

If you've got a spot where you can heap them up, keep them damp and cover them with plastic or hessian or whatever, in a couple of weeks you'll have lovely leaf-litter. Add in some seasol to speed the process up a bit. It can then be used anywhere. As with any mulch, it's a good idea to provide a bit of Nitrogen to compensate for what the mulch draws from the soil as it breaks down. A few handfuls of composted cow manure spread around when you mulch will do the trick.
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Experience is what you get when you dont read the instructions first.I'm a LEO.I am experienced!

RE: do eucalyptus leaves make good mulch for garden beds

Posted 720 days ago

ok thank you youve been most helpful