Recycle Those Fall Leaves

The deciduous trees put on a glorious show again this year but now it's time for the leaves to take a final bow. The trees are signaling the end of the autumn season. If you have lots of mature trees in the yard, those thousands of detached leaves can seem like a nuisance. We know how important it is to reuse and recycle so don't overlook a valuable chance this fall. Those once beautiful leaves that are now covering the yard should be on the recycle list.

There are several ways to recycle those fall leaves and benefit your yard at the same time. It's not necessary to put them in bags and place them curbside. Nature has its own way to recycling those leaves without the need for any plastic garbage bags. We can and should do the same thing while reaping the nutrient-rich benefits.

Recycle fall leaves into compost

A basic compost pile is easy to create and a great way to recycle leaves, grass clippings and certain kitchen scraps. Pile the ingredients in an inconspicuous corner of the yard, keep it moist and turn it occasionally. Fall's leaves add the necessary carbon to the compost pile, along with straw or wood chips. Nitrogen is needed to make compost and can be found in vegetable scraps, grass clippings and other green yard debris. But lucky for us, the compost needs lots of carbon, so keep adding those fallen leaves.

Recycle fall leaves into leaf mold

It doesn't take any special skills to make leaf mold. Nature creates this on a continual cycle in the forests. It's what those piles of fallen leaves turn into without any help from us at all. If you've ever dug into the soil in woodlands, you might have noticed how rich and dark the soil is under the trees. Leaves decompose and become nutrient rich leaf mold. All you need is a place to pile the leaves and let nature take its course without much effort on your part.

Recycle fall leaves as mulch

Fall leaves can be used as mulch so just rake them up or blow them into the garden beds. They will help protect the soil and plants. Since winter mulch is best placed in the beds around the same time as the trees are shedding their leaves, wait until most leaves have fallen and put them in the garden beds. Since leaves are lightweight and can blow back out of the garden beds, this is the time to add additional decorative mulch over the leaves. The leaves will break down in the beds and enrich the soil, just as nature intended.

The same can be done for the leaves in grassy areas, but the leaves shouldn't be left whole. In this case, piles of wet leaves can actually smother the grass. A mulching lawn mower can sufficiently chop the leaves so they're beneficial to the lawn as well. Many lawn mowers are also mulching mowers and all that's needed is running the mower over the leaf-strewn yard a couple of times in fall. The leaves will then be able to rapidly decompose and enrich the soil under the lawn.