What to Do With Your Autumn Leaves (these ideas are awesome!)

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Much like mowing your lawn or pruning your backyard trees, there’s something very satisfying about raking up Autumn leaves, it feels like an ancient, seasonal practice that connects you with nature, and more importantly your backyard. 

But once you have finished raking up your leaves, what should you do with them? Sure you could bag them up and get rid of them – but surely there is a more environmentally friendly way to maker use of them. 

Below are our top 5 things to do with your raked up Autumn leaves.

What to do With Your Autumn Leaves

1. Compost: Autumn leaves are perfect for adding the brown or carbon part of the mixture to the compost heap. Be aware that leaves take time to break down, so don’t add them to the big piles. Create layers with a mixture of leaves and the last of your grass clippings mixed with your usual compost ingredients. Chop the leaves will help them compost faster with the lawnmower coming in very handy to hoover and mulch them up.

Cover the pile with a sheet of old carpet to help keep the heat in and the rain out of the sand in the winter. Aerate the pile every now and then by turning with a garden fork, and you’ll have some excellent garden compost made by Spring.

2. Create leaf mould: Leaf mould is a dark, crumbly material made from which the leaves can be completely broken down over a period of 2 years. Well rotted leaf mould is used as a soil enhancer to break up dense, compacted soils and make it easier for plant roots to penetrate. Leaf mould also stimulates the microbial activity in the soil which in turn releases nitrogen and other nutrients to the roots of your plants.

Did you know that the leaf mould also holds up to 500 times its own weight in water? It is also perfect for improving the moisture retention quality of your soil.

Don’t be put off by the fact that it takes 2 years to make, just add to your pile or leaf mould cage every year and take the material off the bottom of the pile when it’s ready, it doesn’t take any effort at all.

3. Turn into mulch: Shredded leaves are the perfect mulch for your vegetable garden and help protect your soil from winter rain. Add a two to three-inch layer over dormant winter beds or use winter plants such as kale, winter cabbage and Brussels sprouts.

We don’t recommend digging leaves into the ground as it takes too long to break down. Leave them on the surface and allow them to weather, add nutrients to the soil as they decompose, and incorporate soil worms and microorganisms into the soil.

4. Collect them in compost bags: Having a few bags of nice dry leaves on hand is invaluable when you manage your compost heap next year. As you know, successful composting is all about a balanced mixture of green (nitrogen) and brown (carbon) materials. The most common problem with home composting is too much green material, resulting in a soggy and fragrant compost bin. How much easier is it to add a few layers of dry leaves to an imbalanced composting pile than to tear down old cardboard and paper?

Collect a few hessian sacks of leaves and keep them in the shed for use next year, brown material may be hard to get through in the summer, so now is the time to collect yours for free.

5. Put them in your lawn: If you’re not convinced of the reasons for collecting your leaves, or if you feel a little lazy, you can just mow them in your lawn. A fine layer of chopped leaves will break down over the winter, and earthworms will be incorporated into your lawn. A mixture of nitrogen-rich grass clippings and carbon-rich leaves will create a perfect nutrient-rich grass feed to feed your grass in the spring.

Set your mower to the highest setting with the collection box off to chop the leaves into a fine mulch that will improve your grass next year. Mow to create a fine mulch every week if you leave it longer, you may have to complete a few passes with the mower to reach an even finish.

If you need help with your backyard get in touch with Low Cut Tree Services Canberra for your free quote!