Leaf mold and compost

[didireallysaythat]

I have a pike of two year old leaf mold and probably about four times as much compost.
I've also bags of not very rottened horse manure which I was planning to put in the bottom of the compost bays once I empty them.

Our soil is poor, thin, not clay but little organic matter in there (can't remember the last time I saw a worm).

Is there anything in a garden that would particularly benefit from leaf mold or should I just dig in the compost and mulch liberally with the leaf mold ?

What plants do you already have?

Just mulch with it all - mix the compost and leaf mould and pile it thickest where you will have hungry plants next year - don't dig it in. The worms should come and find it and drag it down for you.

I've a bit of everything - old fruit trees, new fruit tree, new hornbeam hedge, three raised beds (fab the first year - rubbish this year although the raspberries have been good), geraniums, penstemons that aren't thriving, a lot of a big daisy thing I hate, hellebores en masse, Japanese anemones taking over the world, and a new border with ferns which isn't looking great (I bought small plants because of ££ but they haven't grown much this year).

I'd like the raised beds, ferns and one over grown border to improve.

Mulch the ferns with the leaf mould (they need a low nutrient mulch). Compost on your raised beds as it is richer.

Would you like to start again with your overgrown border? I would dig everything out, rake level, then use the lasagne method over the winter to kill weeds and improve the soil, ready for replanting in spring.

The lasagne method basically involves laying down cardboard or newspaper over the whole bed, then a layer of grass clippings, then a layer of manure, another layer of cardboard and so on. (Google lasagne method for more info). If you do this now, you should be able to plant directly into lovely black soil alive with worms by the spring. Or some authorities say leave it for a year, but it depends on if you've got a bad weed problem or not.