Time to harvest some fallen leaves to make a compost

Fíann Ó Nualláin gets down to the science of change which occurs in plants as autumn progresses.    

THIS is not a bad weekend to visit your local park —ost leaves six months to a full year to do their thing. A full year yields the best stuff. I chop into the pile with a sharp shears, sporadically, to speed the process — smaller parts rot down quicker. Oak leaves take two years, so select your stroll and tree choice accordingly. Any leaf fall at home, on the lawn or paths can be mowed up with mower on mulch setting and from the catchment box, be put straight into the leaf mould stack.

The recent flush of russet leaves is down to a retreat of sugars and chemicals from the foliage that exposes the interplay of pigments within the processes of the leaf. Here comes the science bit — but it is (if i can make the pun) quite absorbing. We learn in school that chlorophyll — the life blood of plants is a ‘green pigment’ that absorbs light and helps process sugars in leaves to feed the plant — tip to root.