I'm also curious about Roundup, to know whether people advocate using it to clear grass areas for new flower beds. Same concerns about inertness in soil/ on mulch and fallen leaves in woodland areas.

If you are concerned with it, a lot of organic gardeners use vinegar or boiling water as an herbicide. You might check in the organic gardening section. They also know a lot of specifics on roundup in the lawncare forum.

I finally pulled all the ground ivy off that was running over the top of the pile. But while ago I did use Roundup on the ivy and that awful creeping Euonymus (sp?) that is spreading everywhere. Also I still plan to spray the ground ivy that is all around the area where this pile of leaves is. I will just try not to get it on the pile itself. I did search the Weeds forum and found a LONG thread about Roundup but didn't try to read it all. I will also look at the lawncare and organic care section. Thanks.