In most citrus production, the dry leaves and other vegetative parts are left lying on the ground under the trees to be returned to the soil. These materials, along with fibrous roots decompose on a regular basis. The amount of nitrogen released by the decomposition of organic debris supplies a significant portion of the nitrogen requirement for tree growth and fruit production. In fact the amount of nitrogen supplied by the dead dry leaves and other vegetative parts is probably much more than most people would suspect.

Example:
Nitrogen from decomposition of debris left under citrus trees in Florida groves were measured over a two year period, and the mineralized (available) nitrogen amounted to:

From 4 year old trees 63.5 pounds of nitrogen per acre each year.
From 7 year old trees 46 pounds of nitrogen per acre each year.
From 20 year old trees 125 pounds of nitrogen per acre each year.
From 40 year old trees 110.5 pounds of nitrogen per acre each year.

Millet (1,359-)

Sounds very interesting, i knew that a lot of N, along with C, is used by bacteria that decompose the organic material, leaving just a little part of N available after the complete decomposition process.

Bye!

Sometimes, I would say that most home gardeners are not eco-friendly in the sense that the nutrient cycling in the garden is an ecological disaster. I'm one of them, but I really tried to be on the ecologically friendly side.

When there are leaves strewn about under the tree, some home gardeners would go crazy leaving such unsightly mess. So they blow the leaves away, maybe some would compost them into one spot, to have everything spic and span, very tidy garden. Well, I do that, for the sake of sanity of my wife. It added many work with no plant benefits, only for the sake of aesthetic sanity. It is the same with the grass lawn. You fertilize it, you water it, then harvest the biomass and throw them away, especially when there's no room in the compost bin.

So here we are, like many home gardeners do, forever buying fertilizers and nutrients to replace what we blow away.

I have always kept my grass clippings-- I now even collect my neighbors (he is happy because he doesn't have to bag them). My yard is full of small islands of shrubs and flowers--I just empty the grass catcher directly under the bushes and spread them out a few inches deep--they decompose quick--the worms are thick in my flower beds.

However, when it comes to citrus, I keep the dead leaves raked from under the trees (I add them to the compost pile or to other shrubs). Decomposing citrus leaves can support greasy spot fungus. By keeping the dead leaves removed you can pretty much prevent greasy spot from attacking your citrus and avoid the need to spray.

I recently bought my first house. There are many trees. The previous owner did very little yard maintenance to the back yard. So I have been raking up a lot of leaves, and putting them in a compost pile. Probably 4’ high by 6’ by 5’. I am okay with letting that naturally decompose but if adding a little commercial fertilizer well help the process I may just do that.

I am a fan of mulching lawn mowers. It just makes it easier than bagging it.

I'm agree with gdbanks, I never remove my grass clippings from the lawn. I use a mulching mower, which returns the clipping back to the grass. Returns the nutrients to the grass. I have a very large compost pile. It must be 5 or 6 years old, I actually never seem to get around to using it, I just keep adding material. Being a farm, I have a never ending supply of material that can be tossed into the pile.- Millet (1,342-)

I have a Snapper Riding mower and I collect the clippings to keep them from being tracked into the house by me and the dog--I am in and out of the house quite a bit. It also works great for picking up the leaves from all of our trees as well instead of raking--especially that #@$# magnolia tree that drops a carpet of huge leaves all summer. A mulching mower would be fine if it were not for tracking the clippings in the house and the thick carpet of magnolia leaves.

As for fertilizer on the compost pile--it will help break them down--if you are not interested in using the compost ( I am not saying you can't use it--just that much of it will disappear as CO2). The other thing that will help is keeping the compost pile moist. It is amazing how dry it can be inside--especially if you add lots of leaves.