Believe me, your neighbors will thank you when you get out there and start raking their leaves. Leaves are a completely free, hugely beneficial addition to your garden. They are full of beneficial bacteria and plant nutrients that are ripe for rotting and adding to your soil. Here are a few ways to use them:
- You can mulch your garden beds in fall by laying a thick layer of leaves around perennials and over bare soil to protect and insulate the soil and increase microbial activity. By Spring, some of the leaves will have rotted and will already be incorporated into the soil.
- Leaves that remain in the Spring can be added to the compost bin.
- You can make a beautiful soil amendment called leaf mold by collecting leaves and storing them for about a year. Leaf mold makes an excellent seed starting medium, potting soil amendment, or mulch. There are a few ways to produce leaf mold. The easiest is to create a bin from hogwire or chickenwire and fill it with leaves. If they are dry, wet them down really well when you pack the bin. Then just wait! In about a year the leaves will turn to a dark crumbly compost. You could also fill paper yard waste bags with leaves, add enough water to make them damp, and close the bags. Punch a few holes in the bag to let in air and check on them periodically during the year to see if they need a bit more water added.
- Leaves also make a great addition to your regular compost pile as a “brown” or carbon-rich material.
- Mow over leaves on any lawn and leave the shredded leaves to break down and provide fertilizer for the turf.
All of these methods work even better if the leaves have been shredded or mowed first. But it’s not absolutely necessary.
ONE WARNING: Do not include the leaves of Black Walnut trees in your compost as they negatively affect the growth of other plants.