- Can walnut leaves go in the compost?
- Make a second compost heap for walnut leaves
- For which plants is acidic compost suitable?
- lime compost
Many gardeners caution against putting walnut leaves on the compost. This warning is not entirely unjustified. Nevertheless, you can of course also compost the leaves of a walnut tree. You only have to keep a few things in mind.
Walnut leaves make the compost very acidic
Can walnut leaves go in the compost?
Walnut leaves contain a lot of tannic acid. On the one hand, the acid ensures that the leaves only rot very slowly. On the other hand, it acidifies the compost so that it is not suitable for fertilizing all plants in the garden.
In small quantities, walnut leaves certainly do no harm and will not weigh down the compost too much either. However, you should first chop the leaves up well and mix them with other garden waste.
In any case, only leaves that are free of fungi and pests belong on the compost. With walnut leaves, however, such problems only occur very rarely.
Make a second compost heap for walnut leaves
If you have a lot of walnut leaves, you should consider creating a second compost heap in which you only compost the leaves and other acidic substances.
Another option is to sweep the leaves into a pile. It is then shredded and mixed in very small amounts on the main compost heap with other, more rapidly decomposing materials. Then the compost will not be as acidic and the rotting process will be a little faster.
For which plants is acidic compost suitable?
Very acidic compost, such as that produced when composting walnut leaves and other foliage, can be used very well if you want to fertilize ericaceous plants. These plants love compost made from walnut leaves:
- azaleas
- Rhododendrons
- pagan
- forest plants
lime compost
You can also lime the compost so that compost soil that has become very acidic due to walnut leaves can also be used for other plants.
The lime should only be sprinkled on shortly before use. The recommended dosage is one kilogram of lime per three cubic meters of compost. Algae lime is considered to be the best lime for this purpose.
tips
Not only leaves can make compost soil very acidic. Many conifers such as thuja should also not be composted in large quantities. The cut material is chopped up beforehand so that it rots more quickly.