6 Healthy Approaches to Handle Fallen Leaves
July 28, 2019
We have been enjoying fall’s foliage pageant for months — trees, shrubs and even perennials have been setting on a colorful show. But now that the leaf fall is all but complete, it’s time to create a strategy for handling leaves that will keep your landscape healthy.
Jocelyn H. Chilvers
Jocelyn H. Chilvers
1. Discard all diseased foliage. This photo shows powdery mildew, a common fungal infection, on lilac leaves. It’s important to avoid the spread of diseases throughout your landscape and gardens — do not add these leaves into a mulch or use them for compost. Place infected leaves in plastic bags rather and send them out with all the garbage.
Jocelyn H. Chilvers
2. Get leaves off the yard. Even a light layer of leaves will compact beneath sunlight, depriving yard grasses of light and air and encouraging the growth of snow mould and other turf diseases. You can use them now for compost, add them to a compost or stockpile them for potential use.
Jocelyn H. Chilvers
3. Use leaves as a mulch that is temporary. Apply them now, 4 to 6 inches deep, around newly installed plants to maintain soil heat and permit better root growth. Spread leaves round bare soil areas to avoid erosion or apply them to established gardens after the ground has frozen to reduce frost heave and premature soil warming in early spring.
Notice: Keep leaf mulch 6 inches away from the bases of shrubs and trees to avoid damage from rodents.
Jocelyn H. Chilvers
Oak leaves are especially helpful for this program, because they feature lignin (a complex organic compound that binds wood fibers together), making them slow to decompose. Unfortunately, this characteristic also makes them hard to compost unless they’re shredded first.
Flowtron
LE-900 Leaf-Eater Mulcher/Shredder – $199.95
4. Shred leaves to be used in mulch or compost. Run over leaves several times along with your lawnmower or use a commercial chipper-shredder made especially for this undertaking. Shredded leaves break down faster and are easier to incorporate with different substances from the composting procedure. Studies indicate that this is the best way to manage leaves from many plants, such as black walnut, oleander, chamomile and poison sumac — shredding then composting leaves for four to six months breaks down the toxins.
Jocelyn H. Chilvers
5. Participate in a neighborhood “leaf drop.” Many municipalities offer you a short-term service of delivering your leaves to a specific website at no cost. The website will compost the leaves for municipal use or sale to occupants. This may be your best bet to maintain your autumn cleanup ecofriendly in the event the amount of leaves on your own house overwhelms your ability to use them on your own landscape.
6. Savor leaves in the House. Last but not least, you are able to keep fall’s beauty alive by incorporating a few long-lasting foliage — like this leaf collection — into yourhome decoration.