Nature Will Help You To Compost Leaves

One of natures greatest gifts to the homeowner/gardener is the ability to use natural processes to compost leaves. This process can be achieved in many ways and is one of the best ways to help the planet stay green and free land fills from unnecessary waste. In most communities now it may not be possible to safely burn autumn leaves from a pile in your backyard.

It sometimes seems strange to watch a homeowner take the time and trouble to prepare plastic bottles and cans and other household waste for recycling while blindly filling bag after bag with the most recyclable material, those pesky fallen and sometimes even shredded leaves, and place them at the curb for pick up and delivery to the local landfill.

Certainly those cans and plastic bottles will see further use once they are recycled but in order to reach a finished product they must first be made ready to recycle. That means removing labels and making sure they are clean. This uses labor and resources such as tap water. Then they must be either transported to a recycle drop off or if the community provides the service picked up at the curb.

While this is certainly a worthwhile effort compare this to the simple resource saving process necessary to compost leaves. Once they are collected the leaves can be easily moved to a compost pile on the homeowners’ property. Properly done this process is not unsightly and will not cause odors or other problems. The finished product can be ready for use in the garden or on the lawn in most cases by the following season.

How To Compost Leaves

Getting ready to compost your leaves can be as simple as digging a hole in some out of the way spot, filling it with leaves and covering the pile. For the more serious composter the pile can be layered with a little kitchen and garden waste to enrich the finished product with nitrogen and increase the composting rate then watered if need be.

Various compost bins and specialized composters such as a compost tumbler are available to aid the serious gardener in producing some serious potting soil. If you have a leaf mulcher, garden vacuum or mower that shredder the leaves they will compost even faster. Grass clippings and other organic matter can also be added to the compost bin or pile to further reduce waste and produce a better finished product.

While natural composting is a very simple process for the serious gardener a little research into the process which in effect is a combination of art and science can produce much satisfaction when he or she realizes how a little effort to compost leaves has helped to save resources and labor which are burdens for the community and turned a useless waste material like autumn leaves into a product from the compost pile that will next season help produce a rich bounty from the garden.

Taking the time to compost leaves is a win win situation for you and for the planet.

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