With regards to oak leaves: I did an experiment some 13 years ago. I dug a hole about two feet deep in my garden bed in late autumn, and poured about 15 gallons of vegetable matter into it. Then I filled the hole back up with soil I’d removed to make it.

When I started to work in the garden next spring, I dug where I’d buried the vegetation. I found no evidence that I’d buried anything there; the organic stuff had decomposed and diffused through the soil.

I don’t know what you’ve already tried with your oak leaves, but a compost bin, barrel, or tumbler oughta help a lot. In the meantime, you could try the experiment I did: bury a bunch of those leaves under soil and check on them four or five months later.

I’m always torn as to what to do with the leaves that find their way into my gardens & landscaping. It is a huge task trying to get rid of them all, but the oak leaves seem to never ever break down, so something needs to be done I suppose.

Perhaps if I finally get a compost bin going, I can try shredding them and adding them to the mix.

1. Just as a compost heap holding fresh lawn clippings can put out a pungent aroma after rain, so can a kitchen garden mulched heavily with grass clippings.

2. Walking on grass clippings in your garden makes your footwear most inappropriate for house-wear; many’s the time I’ve swept up fallen Klingons from the kitchen and dining room after tracking them into the house.

It seems that in some on-line discussion in the recent past, I read the suggestion to cover my grass clipping mulch with cardboard or wood when I’m working in the garden – or even leave cardboard on it through the season. Seems like a good idea, and I’ll give it a go this year.

I haven’t tried grass clippings as mulch, if you can believe it. I usually just compost them. I’m making changes this year, trying to be more efficient. This could cut down on time spent weeding.