Is it ok to have sycamore sumack leaves as browns in my leaf pile for composting?
April 14, 2009 by Composting
Filed under Composting Q&A's
frith25 asked:
What I mean is, it won’t matter since its decomposing right? Would it won’t harm my plants in the spring?
What I mean is, it won’t matter since its decomposing right? Would it won’t harm my plants in the spring?
twanda_C on Fri, 17th Apr 2009 12:31 am
Do not put the sumack leaves in your compost! You will be sorry because you will have that crap growing everywhere!! Poison or not, its nasty hard to get rid of!! Just burn it, and be careful!! It almost killed my dad, don’t know exactly why, and doctors don’t either except it was toxic to him, and he had to have several allergy shots, and has to stay clear of it!! Be careful!!
fluffernut on Sun, 19th Apr 2009 11:15 pm
If you are absolutley certain your sumac isn’t poison sumac, OK.
To speed things along, rake the leaves into a big pile and then mow them with the mower to chop finely. The smaller size will break down quickly. Extra water will help leach away chemicals you may be worrying about. …except the poison sumac…..stay away from that!!!
dj on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 9:27 am
The problem with leaves generally in compost heaps is that they tend to pack down into an anaerobic layer and so do not break down.To avoid this situation you need to mix in as much other different vegetation as possible and preferably also turn the heap every month or so.
Kevin C on Thu, 23rd Apr 2009 7:20 pm
Fluffernut raises a good point, with leaves in general. If they are whole leaves, they will mat down and become a spongy layer that separates the pile (as DJ also suggested). But if you break them down with a mower or shredder that will allow the leaves to break down more quickly. In the spring you should turn your compost as well, to airate it.
You could also add some granular fertilizer to the pile (left over fertilizer is good) but not the kind with weed killers or insecticides. The fertilizer will provide some extra nitrogen which will help speed up the decomposition process.
Your basic assumption was right… no harm in adding leaves to the pile at all.
Good luck-