Some people see all the fall leaves from their deciduous trees as a nuisance . All that foliage litter adds a list of chores they have to check off the list : sweeping their deck of cards and patios , rake their lawn so the leaves do n’t surround the smoke , bag them up and broadcast them to the landfill . My take ?
I see autumn leaves as a complimentary and well-off way toimprove my grime over wintertime , and a few years ago , I actually “ rescued ” other people ’s leave-taking from the landfill by picking up 300 bag of fall leave all over town so I could use them in my own garden ! ( I am also that demented person who invited a unknown to dump a drone load of his leaves in my K . I ’m not sure who was felicitous about that ! )
Compost andmulch have unbelievable benefits for the land , and decline leaves are a atomic number 79 mine because they can serve as a soil conditioner , compost , and mulch . They ’re an abundant source of constitutional subject , which feeds earthworms and keep the soil food web healthy , and they also improve dirt tilth by increase drainage in sandy soil or oxygenate heavy clay grunge .
Different leave-taking have unlike nutritious profile , but onechemical analysisof municipal leaves pick up across New Jersey found them to stop all the essential nutrients ( atomic number 7 , P , and potassium ) as well as many trace minerals ( including calcium , Mg , and sulphur ) . While leaves are not ( on their own ) a terminated fertilizer , they ’re an effective soil amendment that should never go to wasteland .
Here are five well-off ways to put them to use in your garden .
1. Add leaves to your compost pile.
If you sometimes struggle to observe enough materials to progress up your compost , declination is the perfect metre to change that ! The time of year produces a lot of fall leaves and other yard waste material that quickly piles up .
you’re able to layer dried leaves ( known as “ Brown , ” as they ’re higher in carbon ) with fresh grass , grass clippings , and the last of your summertime crop ( known as “ greens , ” as they ’re higher in nitrogen ) in a 1:2 proportion of brownness to green .
2. Stockpile leaves as brown matter for your compost pile.
Do you have atonof leave that would just overwhelm your compost lashings ? Do n’t flip them — salvage them ! you’re able to store excess dusk leaf in hardy yard bags or lidded wish-wash cans . Every fourth dimension you empty your kitchen compost bucket into the outdoor compost stack , bestow a few handfuls of leaves as well .
In winter , the amount of kitchen waste we produce usually outpaces the amount of brown material we can collect . I discover that I always ask more carbon material in wintertime since fruit and vegetable flake are generally higher sources of atomic number 7 . When most of my “ greens ” come from the kitchen instead of the yard , I go with a brown to green ratio of 1:1 ( up to 3:1 , depending on the scraps ) .
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3. Use leaves as winter mulch for overwintering crops and perennials.
Mulch reduces soil wearing away ; isolate roots and crown from dusty , dry air ; and helps keep gage at bay . And it just so pass that all those parting make an excellent protective mulch for overwinter crops and perennials , including garlic , asparagus , rhubarb , cold-blooded - hardy herbaceous plant , shrubs , and tree .
you’re able to mix dry leaves with other materials , like straw or pine needle , to create an airy mulch . As the leaves and other organic matter break down , they relinquish nutrients into the soil that give overwintered plants a rise in spring .
One significant thing to notice is if your leaves are on the larger or thicker side , such as oak or sycamore leaves , they should be rip up before you use them . These type of leaves can mat together and make a obtuse roadblock that blocks melodic line and water system from penetrating the soil .
There are a few ways you may chop leaves into modest pieces :
I ’ve ownedthis electric leaf mulcherfor several old age and it performs cleanly . It ’s easy to operate , soft to stack away in the off season , and can digest at least 10 fully grown yard bags into just 1 bag . I usethis collapsible leaf travelling bag with it , which match perfectly under the mulcher . ( I particularly wish how the top snap shut . )
In the past times I ’ve also usedthis leaf blowerthat get with a mulcher and vacuity fond regard . It works well for small hummock of leaf , but can get tedious if you ’re trying to tackle an entire thou full of deciduous Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
4. Save the leaves for spring.
you could also put in bagful of leaves to mulch your garden bed in spring or make new garden beds . Layer them in a lasagna - manner bed with other constitutive matter to create a fertile , loamy ground , or use them to bulge up beds where the stain volume has ensconce over wintertime . ( Just put a layer of terminate compost over the leaves so you have a smooth , flossy medium for sowing seed . )
5. Make leaf mold.
Leaf mold is a fungal - driven cognitive operation of chemical decomposition reaction that turns foliage into compost . It ’s a much slower process than bacterial - driven compost ( which has a nitrogen source to speed up decomposition ) but it ’s also largely hands - free .
merely jam all of your whole or shredded leaves into grounds bag , interlocking cages , compost bins , or other enclosures and let them discontinue down by nature . ( The little the leaves , the faster they ’ll break down — so it ’s worth the effort to shred your foliage first if you want to make compost speedy . ) Periodically wet down the leaf peck to allow fungi to colonize ; you want the leaves just lightly damp , like a wrung - out sponge .
Depending on the sizing of the leaves and how vigilant you are about keeping the leaf pile moist , it can take anywhere from six months to two years to make folio mold . practice it as a mulch for vegetable bedsto feed the soil .
