Utilization of dry leaf litter for tree tending of urban forest and their production at the arboretum of FOERDIA-Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Dry leaf litter are commonly found under forest stands or at arboretum areas in Urban forests. These dry leaves may be used as mulch and fertilizer for tree tending in urban forests. The objective of the paper was to determine the production of leaf waste in the Centre for Forestry Research and Development (CFRD) Arboretum and to identify the characteristics of the compost from those dry leaf litter. The dry leaf litter as mulch is commonly used to maintain newly planted trees or young trees aged less than three years. In this study, the size of dry leaf mulch applied around tree is 50 cm × 50 cm and thickness of dry leaf mulch is about 20 cm. Through this method weeds can be supressed, so weeds around the planted trees are minimized. Data on weekly production of dry leaf litter at CFRD Arboretum was collected and was found that the production could reach about 0.0043 ton per ha. The dry leaf mulch was processed for compost production and its characteristics were discussed.