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How to compost autumn leaves
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Turn fall leaves into black gold.
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Dead leaves are abundant in the fall and are a rich source of nutrients for your garden. Instead of bagging them and having the city collect them, consider using fall leaves in your compost pile. After they are prepared and mixed in with appropriate materials, they will break down into what gardeners call black gold.
To begin your compost pile, shred the leaves. You can run your lawn mower over them if a bag is attached. If you don’t have a bag, make a pile of the leaves and guide the mower so that the shredded leaves will blow into one area. (At this point the leaves can be used directly as mulch for your vegetable or flower beds.) If you don’t have a compost bin consider making one out of chicken wire. A good size for a compost bin is about three feet by three feet.
To make a leaf-only compost pile, layer 4 inches of leaves with one inch of soil. If using them in a regular compost pile, mix the shredded leaves into a pile with other materials to be composted, such as vegetable peelings, coffee grounds and fresh grass clippings. This will help the leaves to break down better because they probably won’t compact into a wad. Brown leaves are high in carbon and low in nitrogen so mixing them with high nitrogen materials will also facilitate decomposition. You can also add a handful of blood or bone meal on top of each layer. Top the entire pile with an inch or two of soil so the rain will soak into this and not run off.
To maintain the composting fall leaves, make sure the pile does not dry out. It should be spongy and damp, but not soaked. Turn it occasionally. Leaves generally take a couple of years to decompose so some gardeners build separate bins just for fall leaves. This works best if you start a new pile every year. After a few years you will have at least three piles for the different stages of leaf composting: rotted, half way there, and newly fallen.
If you don’t want to either rake or compost the leaves, simply run them over with the lawn mower. The fragments will settle down near the soil and mulch your grass. Don’t let unshredded leaves pile up on the grass or it will leave unsightly yellow patches underneath.
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