Save Those Falling Leaves For Next Year’s Compost

Last week I wrote about making quick compost and leaf mold with falling leaves.  The process is so simple for such a huge payoff in your garden soil – and the plants love it.  A gardener’s dream and they’re FREE!

However, there’s one more way to use those leaves that I don’t want you to forget.  Save them to add to next spring’s compost. 

Next spring you’ll have no problem finding green, nitrogen-rich materials to add to your compost pile.  Fresh grass clippings will be abundant as you step up your mowing schedule.  However, sometimes it’s difficult to find dried, carbon-rich materials in the midst of the spring growth.  And successfully balancing the two resources is critical when composting.  You’ll be thankful for the leaves you saved from this fall!

Some years I’ve stacked leaves and grass clippings behind my garden shed but it’s pretty difficult to keep them from blowing all over the yard on windy days.  Wire cages contain mulched leaves very well and allow you to turn them while keeping them moist.  As a last resort I fill large garden bags to make sure I have at some leaves for the compost pile next spring.   

In case you’re not yet convinced to recycle this natural resource for your garden, just remember …

• it’s FREE!
• it’s great soil conditioner that helps retain water (more drought resistant)
• it helps break up heavy, dense soil  (plants perform better when their roots can spread and drink in nutrients more easily)
• it’s renewable resource that can be used in place of peat

… and did I mention it’s FREE?!

We have another reason to start using our leaves in my neighborhood.  Very soon the city is going to start limiting the amount of garden waste they pick up weekly.  With all the big oak trees and maple trees we have, I’m sure my neighbors will be delighted to donate their leaves to my compost pile if they haven’t started their own!

But before this season passes us by, I urge you to take some time to appreciate the beautiful changing colors of the fall season.  I’ve started carrying my camera with me in the car so I can capture the memory of these gorgeous trees wherever I go.  I love to watch the progression of color from day to day.  Simply gorgeous.

NOTE: For more information about composting, read:

• Will My Compost Tumbler Cook It Up Before Winter?
• Leaf Mold Is A Gardening Gift From Mother Nature
• Save $60 on WORX 3-in-1 Compact Blower/Mulcher/Yard Vac
• A Compost Kitchen Bin Also Adds To Kitchen Decor
• Compost Is Black Gold and Green         (Some offers and special pricing may have expired.)