In fall, I shred the leaves my neighbors gather and top up all the raised beds, giving garlic more time to root, but worry about tying up the soil nitrogen. I vermicompost and have a strong worm population in the raised beds. But I still worry about nitrogen, so this year, I am adding coffee grounds and contents of a few large tea bags from Einstein's, using a broom rake to mix into the shredded leaves. In theory, this will add nitrogen, probably not decay much until temperatures warm, but then largely decompose the leaves by planting time. I see from post a recommendation to keep the ration of leaves and coffee grounds 10 to 20% max coffee.
Two questions:
First, any experience or knowledge to share on this method of topping up the raised beds?
Second, an Einstein's district manager was fascinated, told me of a friend who used a mixture of coffee grounds and some other ingredients to save a large ash tree, says something in the mixture that is taken up by the tree repels the ash borers. Anyone have information on this?
Thanks, Tom Casten
