You don't have to dispose of raked leaves. You can also use it to make fertilizer. You don't even need much for that.
Autumn is a beautiful time of year in itself, mainly because of the colorful foliage that hangs so picturesquely on the trees every year. But of course it doesn't stay there forever. When the time comes, you have to rake up and dispose of the leaves. But what to do with all the leaves? After all, it cannot be disposed of in the compost bin because there is simply not enough space for it. Theoretically, you could of course also collect the leaves and take them to the garden waste disposal site. But you can also save yourself the journey there and benefit from the foliage, provided you have your own garden. Some of the foliage can be composted, i.e. converted into fertilizer, which you can then use for your garden.It all depends on the right mix
Of course, you must not put all the leaves that accumulate in the garden on the compost. Leaves should not make up more than 20 percent. The trees extract most of the nutrients from the leaves, so that when they fall off they contain only a few of them. However, there should be as much nutrients as possible in the compost, because only then can it be used as a fertiliser. Therefore, you need to mix in enough other garden and kitchen waste to create an ideal mix. For example, you can incorporate lawn clippings and chopped garden waste from hedges and shrubs.
Not all leaves are created equal, especially if they are going to end up in the compost. Because the rotting of the individual types of leaves progresses at very different speeds, so you cannot mix them up at random. The leaves of flowering shrubs, fruit trees, maple, lime, hornbeam, mountain ash and ash, for example, rot very quickly, so you can use the compost in the garden as early as next spring. On the other hand, compost with the leaves of oak, beech, chestnut, poplar and plane trees matures relatively slowly.
Important:
If you know a tree is infected with a disease, you should not use its leaves for compost at all. You absolutely have to dispose of this.
How to make fertilizer from foliageher
You don't even have to have a compost heap on your property to make good compost from foliage. All you need is a couple of regular garden waste bags and a little compost booster and you're good to go:
Put the dry leaves in the bags and add some of the compost accelerator. This product contains bacteria and fungi that are supposed to cause the leaves to rot quickly. The addition of horn or stone flour is also recommended, as this enriches the later compost with important nitrogen and trace elements. You can also fill the bags with other clippings. Then close them well. Now all you have to do is make a few holes in the bags to ensure good ventilation. Usually, thanks to this method, you will have good garden soil after about eight to twelve weeks, just in time for the new gardening season.