One persons experience with on-ground mulching ***** ***** This clever (and lazy) fellow collects neighbors bags of leaves (with permission) then uses a weed whacker to chop up the leaves (in a barrel, of course). This mulch is then applied to the garden for a soil amendment. . If this was my place, I would completely wet the mulch on application and toss a couple of handful of 21-0-0 fertilizer to kick start the winter composting.
If you have rhubarb, bury them with leaves in the fall before it frosts. My folks had a big patch of strawberry rhubarb and a big maple tree. I got a bit lazy and decided to dump a lot of them on the rhubarb. At first I thought I might have killed them, but the next spring the rhubarb grew like crazy with big, tender stalks. I think it was the combination of insulation along with the extra nutrients that did the magic. Before that they were never winterized. After Dad cut down the maple I used lawn clippings instead. Worked well, but not quite the same magic. Not everybody is a fan, but the strawberry variety is quite nice and Mom made the best rhubarb custard pie. One of the things I never mastered and miss the most.
Every year in the fall I rake up all the leaves shreds them in the leaf/branch grinder and dump it in the garden. Use the tiller and till it all in by spring all decomposed and ready to plant. What was once mostly sand now is full of organic matter and earth worms.
Re: post #3. I did that for many years when I worked away from home. When I retired that garden was like potting soil.
Leaf mould is a free resource to improve the soil, apart from the time and effort of collecting it, processing it and applying it. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/mulch/mulching-with-leaves.htm How to turn dead leaves into mulch for your garden Just be aware that some leaves are unsuitable for making leaf mould...because they are toxic to other plants, or are too acidic for most plants other than plants that prefer an acidic environment. Avoid leaves that may have had heavy exposure to environmental pollutants. Most leaf litter tends to be low in nitrogen; adding some nitrogenous content in the form of a moderate application of grass clippings will help in breaking the leaves down into leaf mould quicker.
Also, if you have any livestock, keep in mind some leaves such as black cherry have high cyanide levels. A sheep can be killed with only a couple ounces of leaves. Less than a half pound can take down a steer. Make sure the critters can't get to them...on the tree or in the compost pile.
