| Leaves from my neighbor's tree fall into my yard and I'd like to use them in my compost pile. I notice they have alot of round, hard growths on them which I guess must be a kind of scale. I wonder if that means I should put them in the trash. What if they were to dry out completely? |
| They may be scale or some sort of fungus, both of which have evolved to survive just about anything! Most should die if your compost really heats up (140-160F). The saving grace is that if the host plant is a tree, the likelyhood of the pest infesting your garden plants is low. To be absolutely sure, you can have the extension service (908/431-7260) identify the "growths". Go ahead and rake the leaves, but pile them separately until you get the okay from extension. |
