Yes it will, but it won't be any faster than adding manure, grass clippings, or alfalfa meal and if it gets rained on then some may leach out without composting.

If you want it to break down FAST- shred the leaves, mix in an organic green, pile it up and wet it as you build the pile. It doesn't have to be 100% composted to plant in it.

You don't have any urine?

Hey Ray,
Is there a Starbucks nearby? If so used cofee grounds are free and a great source of N. They have made compost for me free and easy.
Tim

A lot of people use blood meal, which you can buy bagged. Or consider manure from a nearby horse, dairy, or poultry farm.

Blood meal is expensive and may develop a nasty smell.

You produce alot of greens everyday. Everyone does.

Ray, unless those leaves are already well on their way to decomposing, you stand as much chance of leaves breaking down to the usable stage in two months, than I have of winning the Kentucky Derby........and I'm not a horse.

Pablo, may I suggest you delve further into why a gardener should not ....should not...use incomplete compost.
First thing though, the material still breaking down, uses nitrogen from the soil the plant is growing in.
How much is robbed.....that would probably take a scientist to measure ....let's just say one should not use incomplete compost around new plantings.

If this were the case, if one could just throw our kitchen scraps et al...into our gardens.....then why bother with a compost pile.

We all agree, compost piles need nitrogen to effect proper breakdown. What's to stop the incomplete compozting material using the same nitrogen from the garden we are trying to grow a plant in.

Ray, if there is such an emergency to have compost to make our gardens more richer, then count on buying some composted cattle manure (or sheep manure) from the local supplier.
From how you pose your question, it seems your garden soil isn't much to speak of in the nutrition of.
How does your garden grow ---that was got last spring and summer. Why do you feel you need to have compost ready for February.
The time to plan on using any material is allowing time for the end result to happen.
Such composting material should have been given treatment last spring and through summer.

it seems like if you add nitrogen to your unfinished compost in a garden, nitrogen levels wouldn't really be affected

"How much is robbed.....that would probably take a scientist to measure ....let's just say one should not use incomplete compost around new plantings. "

I disagree. I use it every year and my garden does awesome. Many others here do the same. What do you think sheet composting and lasagna gardens are anyway? Unfinished compost.

"If this were the case, if one could just throw our kitchen scraps et al...into our gardens.....then why bother with a compost pile."

I do just throw kitchen scraps in my garden. It works great. The reason I keep a pile as well is for stuff that will attract criiters or that has seeds. 155F takes care of all of it quickly.

You'r talking a lot of well thought out hypothesis. Problem is that a hypothesis that doesn't stand up to rigorous testing is not even a theory. Many here do the same as I do- I didn't invent it.

I have a large bed (35 x 8 feet) that I simply filled with bags of leaves. I added grass clippings to it, but unfortunately there were not many to be had. We are building a large deck, so I was kind of limited in what I could do by when the contractors were doing stuff. I have been adding our kitchen waste, lots of Starbucks, etc...but it's such a LARGE amount! and I am having a hard time getting greens in quantity. I am going to plant the bed with roses, hence the February/March planting time.

Tell you what Pablo....you show me a site from somebody "in the know" about why you can use unfinished compost.....and I'll show you my reference to why you shouldn't. It's one thing to say something about what can be done....and another thing to prove its worth. Just because you do it, doesn't mean that you are not a walking plague.
The last time I climbed Mt Everest I found an interesting plant growing at the peak. I'd love to show it to you but my camera's broken.

Deal?

Well Jeannie, by your logic, nothing should ever grow in the understory of a deciduous forest....EVER. Think about all that "unfinished compost" on the ground.
Pablo, I too use unfinished compost quite successfully...and I AM a scientist...for whatever that's worth.

nohandle and Pablo: A lot of Jeannie's posts are a touch abrasive, so don't take it personally.

Ok here is a link to a story Mother Earth News magazine ran. Hum I would hope a magazine like this would not allow stories that are not true.
Mother Earth News
Ok I would love to know to what a precise definition of when compost is finished.
From what I understand if compost were totally "finished", there'd be nothing left but inert individual cells of the organic matter. At that point, one rain or a gust of wind would scatter them far and wide!
I have used lasagna gardeing for years and never have had ill plants, have always had great harvests.
Sandy

Rayama,

If your plans are for planting roses in the early spring, may I suggest you do a search on the "Rose Forum" for "alfalfa tea" this will give you a good head start for your roses next year.

As it relates to your leaves and composting I will say adding nitrogen may speed up the process, however I would be inclined to use alfalfa pellets/meal as a nitrogen source. There is a lot of misconception about composting and using mulches to accomplish this goal. The link below will, hopefully, provide insight into the matter. I do trust this helps in some manner...

Blutranes

Here is a link that might be useful: .pdf Myth Buster

Nohandle, have you really used what you say.....
gosh, and I feel bad that I didn't get that picture of that flower when I was atop Mount Everest.

Such is tales from the Vienna.....and other woods.

Pablo, if you need assistance in locating a site that points to the use of incomplete compost....maybe...do you think.....maybe ...there isn't one to be found. Do you think if there was such an article, it would be out in much volume informing all the other writers they are full of it when they suggest how to make compost.

If we keep informing new readers about the importance of Carbon to Nitrogen ratios...about dampening a pile, about how nitrogen is used during breakup of what we add.....how can one maintain that somebody should put unfinished material in amongst their plantings.
What is the sense of all the guidelines if we just throw such information out the window and make up our own rules.

And how is a post 'abrasive' when one just points to the truth of certain facts....and one should pause to think about how some support ideas with fiction.

"What is the sense of all the guidelines if we just throw such information out the window and make up our own rules."

Perhaps Jeannie, there is room for individual guidelines. The content of your posts and the tone of your posts suggest that your way (in all matters of compost) is the only way. I have always told people that "If it works for YOU, keep doing it."

If not using unfinished compost works for you...keep doing it. By the same token, using unfinished compost when I want to works for me...so I am going to keep on doing it. Just as putting fresh horse manure in my compost works for me without YOUR guideline stating that fresh horse manure MUST age for at least a year before you even add it to your compost pile. I noticed that you did not provide ANY proof of respected research that suggested this was the case. You may be able to provide numerous websites that back up all that you claim....however, if someone told me that coffee grounds were poison in the compost pile...I would have to disagree based on my own experiences. Same with the unfinished compost and the horse manure.

Kristi

A lot of what one reads in a book sometimes conflicts what happens in reality.

The reason We know that one can use unfinished compost in their garden is because 1. a lot of people do it, 2. mother nature does it, AND 3. lasagna gardening is proven to be successful.

Every garden is different, from soil, to sunlight, to plant selection, to inputs, size, goals, appearance. What works for one gardener may not work for another. So there are few absolutes when it comes to gardening or composting.

I've been at a Xmass party getting pretty much plastered so sorry I haven't responded.

No- no deal.

It works for me and many others. I don't need a site to tell me, or you, or anyone what grew well in my garden this year.

It was, as we say here, pissa.

You read and believe what you want, and I'll keep on with my pathetic overproduction :) My success and happiness with my garden must be an illusion :)

-pH- happy drunk

Getting back to the original question, I just can't see buying something brand new to put in a compost pile. The compost pile is supposed to be a place for scrap stuff, not new stuff.

Find a horse stable and get manure from them. I collect it like this. I take one 5-gallon bucket and a lot of 9 or 13 gallon plastic bags. I line the bucket with two bags and fill it 2/3 full. Then I tie off the two bags and reline the bucket. Filling any more and you risk not being able to carry or breaking even the double bags. You can get a lot more bags of manure in your trunk than you can 5-gallon buckets.

The original question states "I have a 35 x 8 foot bed full of leaves, and I am having a REALLY hard time getting greens in large quantity." Thus the question is about a flowerbed, not a compost pile. Since there is a problem getting "greens" it would appear the goal is sheet composting ready to plant in February. It is further stated the bed is going to be used to plant roses.

As it relates to mulch "leaves" The University of Georgia gives this advice:

Mulch

"Complete decomposition of the compost is not necessary when it is used as mulch. In fact, partially decomposed compost applied in fall will help keep the soil warmer in winter as it continues to heat during decomposition. If uncomposted or partially composted leaves are used, apply one tablespoon of a high nitrogen fertilizer to each bushel of mulch."Here

Although I do not agree with all that is stated on this site (the use of chemicals), the idea can be modified for organic growing if one chooses. The use of alfalfa pellets/meal ($10.00 for a 50 pound bag) will serve to replace a nitrogen source.

In regards to roses, there is a site I found that may be of further service found here Organic Roses. The outside links are to commercial sites, thus one is advised to keep this in mind if these links are used.

IMO, sheet composting, trench composting, lasagna beds, and Interbay mulching are all good techniques to use in organic gardening. In my own personal garden I always use cured compost in my beds, however, that is not to say other methods will not work; they will and have worked in my garden. Each person has a choice to use what works best for them, this is IMO the best method to followÂ

Blutranes

"Each person has a choice to use what works best for them, this is IMO the best method to followÂ"

Amen.

Rayama, if you have access to other greens such as manure or coffee grounds, use them and save your cash. If you don't have access to them or a way to collect and transport them, or if there is ANY reason that using them is not feasible for you, then use the fertilizer. The measurement of 1 tablespoon to 1 bushel, as stated above, seems very reasonable. Please let us know how you proceed and what your results are. I, or someone else here, may be in the same situation you are next year and would love to hear how it works for you.

Good luck with it.
Kristi

Good idea, lets try answering the original question, which was about the usefulness of applying fertiliser as a source of nitrogen. In my experience, close to useless. The nitrogen is too soluble. If you're lucky you'll get a mad glut of bacterai, probably going anaerobic, followed by nothing as it all leaches away. If you can apply it gradually each day, diluted to a suitable level, then you will get some composting. Same goes for urine, apply too much you won't be happy, apply it gradually then you get some benefit. You really need an organic source of greens which will release the nitrogen more gradually and produce a sustainable population of bacteria. Try alfalfa, but other "feedstuff" type sources can be used. Alabama is a bit warmer than England, but I think you've got zero chance of having finished compost by February. You could just dig in the leaves now and you'll hardly know they were there by February, then you can use the fertiliser on your plants (or your lawn) :)