Vince said we had one of these in Texas and never used it. I had no idea we had one and I had no idea what it did. Now, it’s the most essential tool for my gardening. I’m not sure why we “had” one in Texas, never used it and there was a new one in the shop here but . . sometimes we say “Thank You!” and don’t ask questions, right?
I’m not including a link because they’re everywhere online and prices seem to vary greatly. It’s a SunJoe Electric Leaf Mulcher/Shredder. If you garden or if you spend a lot of money on mulch and if you have access to leaves, you really should try this thing.
Vince had raked all of our leaves up and they were piled up under the solar panels. When the neighbor gave us these two big “planters”, I was chomping at the bit to get them planted (not happening this year). Vince said “I am not buying enough garden soil in bags to fill both those things. I will once the end of the season sales have the garden soil on sale.” Then, he decided he would take all those leaves and shred them into those bins. When I saw them, I was kinda in shock that we’ve had that thing and haven’t been using it.
Vince filled up both these bins within a foot of the top with just shredded leaves. They will compost and pack down to almost nothing over time. I water them and turn them with a pitchfork every few days to speed up the composting. I also throw all my vegetable scraps (and paper towel/toilet paper cardboard centers) in there. I’ve been using buckets of these leaves as mulch in the garden beds and grow bags.
The majority of my garden veggies are growing in grow bags and they dry out so quickly. I usually mulch with straw but at the end of the season, I dump all the soil from the bags into the compost bin (maybe I’ll use these big planters this year), stir in as much compost as I can spare, add a few bags of cow manure, keep it all stirred up and watered through the winter, then in about February, we add a few more bags of cow manure, bags of peat moss and bone meal. Then when I’m ready to start filling the bags, I’ll shovel the “dirt” into the bags, stir in more bone meal and a bit of 4-4-4 and I’m ready to go.
But . . the straw! It eventually breaks down but not quickly and it can be aggravating trying to fill the bags with the leftover straw from last year mixed into the soil. I decided to try adding the shredded leaves as “mulch” for the grow bags. It is so perfect.
I’ve taken wheelbarrow loads and put is some of the front beds.We still add mulch but not nearly as much if we have several inches of the shredded leaves and I feel like the shredded leaves compost and add many benefits to the soil.
I’m so happy with these shredded leaves. If you have a garden or need some good mulch, I think the cost of this gizmo is well worth it. I really do see it as a most useful tool and not just a gardening toy.
vivoaks says
We should definitely get one of those! We live in the woods, basically, and with all the trees we have so many leaves to take care of. A huge problem is that a lot of the trees are oak, and don’t lose their leaves until close to spring. When the snow finally melts the leaves are soaked and packed down onto the grass… never fun cleaning them up.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That makes a difference. We have river birch, oak and elm here. The first year we were here, the neighbor wanted our leaves for his compost bin and he came and ran over them all with his mower that mulched and vacuumed them up. Now I see why he wanted them! I’m also wishing we had more leaves now. Vince . . probably not so much! 🙂
Joyce says
Shredded leaves compost way, way faster than the non-shredded ones. My leaf blower has a “vacuum” option and it shreds the leaves as it vacuums them. I’ve been doing that the last few years so I can get more into my compost pile. It always amazes me how fast they break down.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Yes! It is so much faster with them mulched. Now that I know this, it seems so crazy to burn them or bag them and have them transported to a landfill. Where Chad lives, they rake their leaves to the street and a huge vacuum truck comes by, vacuums them up and takes them to a composting facility. I wish I had known this leaf trick years ago.
Mary says
I love my leaf shredder. Is easy to use and takes care of the huge amount of leaves I have in my yard without much effort.