In autumn my town holds leaf collection times, when homeowners (or their landscape services) blow or rake fallen leaves off their properties into big piles in the streets. Later a truck comes and vacuums away them. What I find being vacuumed are dollar debts, the money these homeowners will spend next year on lawn and garden fertilizers, mulch and bagged compost. Cash they might have saved if they had simply used those leaves in their gardens.

Horizon Landscape Company

Why are leaves precious to the gardener? It is simple. When integrated into dirt, autumn leaves:
Insert nutrients, such as phosphorous and potassiumIncrease the soil’s microbial life Boost its water-holding capacity Improve its construction, called tilth And did I mention that leaves are liberated? It requires very little effort on your part to get them working for you, so instead of sweeping them to the curb, here are five ways to use leaves in your garden.

Tallman Segerson Builders

1. Mow them in the lawn. Together, shredded leaves and grass clippings include carbon (leaves) and nitrogen (grass) to the soil, lowering your need to include store-bought fertilizers afterwards.

Jocelyn H. Chilvers

Here is how: Use a mulching mower. If there’s a luggage, take it off and mow with the discharge chute facing the lawn, hence the clippings blow the grass instead of on the road or drive. Put the mower height at approximately 3 inches. Make another pass if the leaves are still in big pieces. The shredded leaves must sit no more than 3/4 inch deep onto the grass. Over the winter they will break down into the soil and be gone.

Beertje Vonk Artist

2. Add them to vegetable beds. You’re able to incorporate complete or chopped leaves into almost any cleared-out vegetable beds. They will mostly decompose over the winter, then in spring you can mix in whatever is left. If you don’t want to watch leftover leaves in your beds, then shred them first.

Don’t have a shredder? A garbage can along with a string trimmer will get the job done. Use a 55-gallon garbage can. Fill it three-quarters of the way with leaves. Put the string trimmer in, turn it on and move it through the layers of leaves. Be sure to wear eye and ear protection.

Earth Mama Landscape Design

Prentiss Balance Wickline Architects

3. Make leaf mold. Leaf mold is simply wet leaves which have decomposed into a wealthy, black, soil-like substance which creates a perfect mulch for plants. Pile the leaves at a place where they’re out of the way and won’t blow away. Or create big (3- or 4-foot) circles of chicken cable, 3 ft high, and heap the leaves inside them. Wet the leaves as you move so they’ll rust. Turning the heap a few times during the winter will accelerate the process.

Amy Renea

4. Mix leaves — shredded or not — into a mulch pile today, where they will break down on winter. Even better: Stockpile dried leaves, either in garbage bags or piled in this out-of-the-way place, for summertime. In warm weather there’s an abundance of succulent green substance (nitrogen) to your compost pile. However, to keep the composting process aerobically functioning, and not rotting, it needs tons of “browns” (carbon), in the form of dried substance.

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Gardening with Confidence®

5. Protect outdoor potted plants. Once the weather turns chilly and potted plants (the rugged ones, maybe not houseplants or tropicals, which must be drawn inside) go dormant, decide on a sheltered place on the north east, west or east side of your property. Cluster the strands together against the home, ideally beneath an overhang. Pile dried leaves under and involving the whole grouping of pots.

If the place is windy, corral the strands with chicken wire so that the leaves won’t blow away. Pile the leaves inches deep, covering the pot and as a lot of the plant as you can. Under this insulation, both pots and plants must come through the winter just fine. With this process, even terra-cotta pots can remain outside, as long as water can’t get into them and freeze.

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

The worst thing you can do with autumn leaves? Burn them. Most municipalities have banned leaf burning, also for good reason. Burning leaves pollutes the air, causes difficulties for people with respiratory disorders and makes a fire hazard. Besides, since you can see, there are so many more worthwhile things related to leaves.

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