Question: If you are trying to be organic and make your lawn soil self-sustainable, do you want to rake your leaves and use the compost from them in your garden or do you want to mow them where they lie on the grass and let them fertilize your lawn for next year?
Answer: Having both a lawn and many trees, I know the temptation. But if your lawn accumulates tree leaves at a typical suburban rate, you will overwhelm the grass if you mow the leaves and let the shredded pieces stay in place. And unless you have trees that deposit their leaves in a nice even layer over the whole lawn, some areas will get too much shredded matter.
You'll get better use out of your leaves if you put them in a composting setup. The way to get usable compost soonest is to shred or grind the leaves before they go into the compost bin or pile. Perhaps ironically, the fastest method I've found is to mow the leaves on the lawn with the bagger on the mower, so that the leaf pieces are mixed with grass clippings. When put into the compost, the combination of shredded green and brown matter jumpstarts the decomposition. The pile heats up, but because there are dry leaves mixed in with the grass, it does not go into stinking anaerobic decomposition mode the way a pile of nothing but grass clippings will. Alas, this mow-and-collect method is time consuming, since the bagger fills very fast.
When the compost is ready (turning the pile over next spring will help) and is dark, loose and friable, keep in mind that it is probably more acidic than lawn grasses prefer. It's still a good amendment - spread a thin layer over the lawn - but horticultural lime will probably be needed as well.
Q: Will peach seeds from peaches bought in the market yield a true peach tree if planted? Must they be stratified? How deep should they be planted?
- John Cox
A: Peach seed will grow into a version of peach, something of the genus Prunus (which includes plums and cherries, the stone fruits). Stratification - cold damp treatment to mimic winter - is required, on the order of three months. This can be done inside, but why bother? Plant the seeds 2 inches deep in loose potting soil in 5- or 6-inch-deep pots and sink the pots into the ground. Cover with some sort of screen to keep squirrels and chipmunks out (they are unlikely to be interested in the peach pit, but they'll dig and disturb unprotected pots regardless).
There are negatives to consider, however. Commercial fruit is from hybridized and grafted trees. The seeds will not produce the same fruit you ate. It may be a good new hybrid, but odds are more likely that it is a boring inferior fruit tree. And it will take six years to find out. Regarding those odds: When professional hybridizers set out to cross varieties in hope of achieving something better, they will typically plant out hundreds of seedlings, let them all grow to maturity and hope that one or two are good enough to keep.
I've read that the pits of early-season peaches rarely germinate. For what it's worth, I routinely put peach pits in my compost, where some level of stratification takes place for at least some of the pits. I've never found a peach seedling in the spring. Oaks, walnuts, tomatoes, melons yes, but no peaches.
To grow your own peaches, purchasing young trees is the best route, which gives you choices (yellow or white, cling or freestone, dwarf or standard) and a crop in just a couple of years. Which will be enough time to read up on the pruning and spraying regimens.
- Michael Martin Mills
Send questions to Michael Martin Mills, The Inquirer, Box 41705, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101 or gardenqanda@earthlink.net. Please include locale. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelmartinmills.
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