My Tiny PlotHow to Make Your Own Seed Compost
I spent the day at Yeo Valley farm organic garden today (more on that later). This afternoon the head gardener, James, showed us how he makes his own seed sowing mix, which let’s face it, could save us all a penny or two.
He roughly sieves his homemade leaf mould mix to get the lumps out and adds the same amount again of horticultural sand. That’s it! The resulting mixture is fine, light and packed full of nutrients. I’m not sure I’ll ever buy seed compost again.
How do you get the leaf mould?
wow that is so simple. I will be collecting more dropped leaves from the local trees this year. Thanks for the tip.
Leaf mould is a gardeners best friend it’s full of nutrients, a good soil conditioner and absolutely free. I’ve always found beech and oak to be the best for leaf mould as they break down faster and easier I always add a few grass clippings to help the decomposing process.
fantastic, I have tons of leaf mould (oak) and thought it didn’t really have any nutrients and was only good for soil conditioning. I was just about to go and buy more seed compost – I will buy sand instead!
Great idea! I’ll be putting all our dropped leaves to good use from now on! Thanks for the post :-)
It was lovely to see you yesterday :)
I have a pile of leaf mould which this will be perfect for. Off to buy some horticultural sand!
If Denise is still reviewing comments, all you need to do is gather up leaves in the autumn into a pile (or put into black plastic bags, punched with holes and tied loosely at the top) and leave in a quiet corner of the garden to break down for a year or so. They need to be kept damp and if you can run over them with a lawn mower first to cut the leaves up that speeds up the process.
Yey for leaf mould! It does take a long time to make if you’re starting from scratch but soo worth it long term. Remember to avoid waxy leaves like Laurel as the don’t rot down very easily.
Thanks VP. Nice to see you too. Glad we went yesterday and not today (yucky rain!)
What are the options for sand? Will Wickes Sharp sand do?
Thanks.
Leaf mould is actually low in nutrients, which is why it is good for raising seedlings. I believe a nutrient rich meduim will actually inhibit sed germination though I don’t know if there’s a scientific basis to that fact. Leaf mould it is also generally weed seed free which makes it good for seedling growing. Building sand is not ideal as it may contian lime. Some grass clippings will help speed up the rotting, will add a few more nutrients, but make sure the lawn hasn’t been treated with any weed/feed stuff.
I’m planning to add a gardening advice element to my currently mostly crafty blog if anyone wants to visit and ask me gardening questions!