A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 composting

i have a small pool behind my house that is full of leaves and limbs off an oak tree, the water in it is really stagnant, would it hurt to compost them? i don't see any moss or algae in it the water sure is black though, looks like it has a lot of minerals in it.

Would not hurt to compost them, but I'm sure the chlorine in the water, if any, will slow down the rate of breakdown.

Compost away!!!
*anything left of the clorine, I would
think would disipate.. and eventually will
break down for sure...*


Composting has a way of getting rid alot of
stuff like algae and stuff....naturally...

i would think if the water is dark and stagnant,
the chlorine is long gone.
one method we used to use with tropical fish was to allow the filled tank to sit a day or so,to rid the water of chlorine.

chlorine dissipates within 24 hours if the water is left standing. so i doubt there's any at all in an opened-topped pool.

i'd be more concerned about the chemicals used to winterize the water.

thanks for the help. but the pool i was talking about is not a pool, but a pond i guess i should of said pond in the first place. most people around here call a small pond a pool, sorry. but i guess the answer is still the same it's ok to use them.thanks.

davida580,

I have a "pond"! Yes, you can compost those leaves, any algae, muck, mud, filth, foul and finch you can find. Chlorine will breakdown within 24 hours as stated above and the smells from ponds usually come from ammonia breaking down into nitrites and finally nitrates. There just isn't anything I've found I couldn't somehow compost except for cigarette butts. Don't try that...