Educated, Experienced & Excited About What We Do!

Learn / Ask The Landscape Professional

My neighbor and I have a bet. He says fallen oak leaves make soil more acidic and I say that's not true. Can you settle this? Dennis, Essex

Answer

My neighbor and I have a bet. He says fallen oak leaves make soil more acidic and I say that's not true. Can you settle this? Dennis, Essex Actually, you are both right in a way. Acidity is measured by a term called pH which is represented by a number scale from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral; pH below 7 is acidic and pH above 7 is basic (or alkaline). Back a hundred years ago, a Danish chemist first developed the concept of pH (which means 'power of hydrogen'). Since then, it has been universally used in most fields of science. When oak leaves first fall off the trees, they have an acidic pH in the range of 4.5 to 5.5 depending on the type of oak tree they came from. If you were to mix them into the soil immediately, they would temporarily slightly acidify the surface layer of the soil, but as they quickly decompose, the soil would become more alkaline. The net effect is that the oak leaves would not acidify the soil in the long run. Leaves are actually a good thing to work into your soil. As they decompose, they become food for the microorganisms that are essential for a healthy soil eco-system. They also help with minimizing soil compaction and keeping the soil structure loose. It is good practice to remove thick layers of leaves from your lawn to keep them from matting down and inhibiting the grass growth in the spring. Running your mower over the remaining leaves is really helpful to raise the organic matter content of the soil. I know some folks like to remove the leaves from their woodlands because they like the appearance, but keep in mind you are depriving the trees of their natural fertilizer.

View As PDF

View a PDF representation of this article To view a PDF of this article, please click here.

 


About Linda Lillie

Linda K. Lillie is the President of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc, the premier landscape design and maintenance, tree care, lawn care, stonework, and carpentry service provider in southeastern Connecticut since 1997. She is a graduate of Connecticut College in Botany, a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national award winning landscape designer for her landscape design and landscape installation work.

Topics

Enter a search term above, or select a category below to browse the available articles.
Lecture Series

Our weekly "Ask The Landscape Professional" series is expanding to include video lectures on various topics. To watch some of our lectures online, please click here.

Submit Your Question

Do you have a question to Ask The Landscape Professional? Click here to contact us and send us your question!

The Official Landscape Company of Mystic Seaport

Official Landscape Company of Mystic Seaport.