Fall has officially arrived, and that means two things: you’ll be enjoying the crisp cooler weather, and start dreading the day when you have to spend hours raking and removing leaves from your yard. We know it can be a huge hassle to remove leaves from your yard, but it’s an important part of keeping your grass healthy.
But if you don’t want to bag the leaves and haul them to the curb to be picked up, here are a few ways you can recycle fallen leaves in your garden this fall.
There are a number of ways you can utilize fallen leaves in your garden during the colder months. One easy way to put those leaves to work is to use them to insulate tender plants from cold winter temperatures. Just six inches of shredded leaf coverage can protect your delicate shrubs. If you have a vegetable garden, pile some leaves on top of cold-hardy veggies, like carrots or kale. If you keep them warm enough with fallen leaves, you’ll be able to keep them growing all winter.
Leaves are also a great addition to your compost pile. If you have a leaf shredder, use that to shred the leaves before adding them to your compost. If you don’t have a leaf shredder, driving across the leaves with your lawn mower once or twice is sufficient. Shredding the leaves increases their surface area and prevents layers from becoming compacted and retaining water or growing mold. You can even mix the shredded leaves in with your mulch. Come spring, the plants and the earthworms will love the additional nutrients.
If you’re willing to let your compost stew for a while, you can add leaves (shredded or not) to create leaf mold. After a couple of years, you’ll have compost that’s rich in calcium and magnesium, and it will retain water to keep your plants hydrated and healthy.
For more fall lawn care tips, or to schedule an appointment with our talented designers and contractors, contact us at VistaPro Landscape & Design today.