"Nature's first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold."
You might think of those words by Robert Frost while you're raking leaves this weekend. No doubt you'll agree with Mr. Frost that trees seem to find it difficult to hold on to their leaves once they've turned from green to gold. But you might not share his poetic attitude once the wind scatters your neat leaf pile for the fifth time.
Now, if you live in an area where there aren't enough deciduous trees to make leaf-raking much of a chore, you're probably feeling pretty smug right now. But spare a thought for those friends and relatives who called to boast of their "beautiful fall colors" a few weeks ago. They're busy shoving their fall colors into big plastic bags.
Or are they?
Many landowners will be burning leaves in smoky bonfires (where that's legal, of course) or hauling bags of leaves to the curb for city pick up. But it's likely that you don't have to do either of those things. Your pesky leaves can be provide two excellent (and free) assets: compost and mulch.
Composting is a fairly simple process. In a forest, leaves fall to the ground and bacteria and fungi reduce the leaves to a rich humus. Because leaves are naturally rich in minerals, carbon and fiber, they can provide you with an excellent "starter" for the compost you can use to feed your plants and shrubs.
Building a compost "bin" need not be a complicated project and you don't have to be a skilled handy man (or woman) to put together a serviceable bin quite quickly. Some county extension horticulturists in Texas have put together an excellent online "slide show" that I highly recommend. You'll find a lot of "how-to" pictures that will be helpful for a novice or experienced landscaper. The project was funded by a grant from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. You can find the slide show at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthknd/compost/compost.html
or click on a direct link from my website, www.landsteward.org when you go to the "Plant Man" page then find this column.
Leaves can take a while to break down and decompose, so it helps if they're somewhat chopped up before you start. To accelerate the composting process and substantially reduce the volume of leaves, shred them in a garbage can with an electric lawn trimmer, if you can stand the noise of the string whacking the side of the can. Then alternate 6 inches of leaves with a shovelful of soil or finished compost, and moisten the pile. Cover the leaves with a final layer of soil. You can find more ideas like that at http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/compost/leaves.htm
Here's another useful tip: Get some large plastic garbage bags and fill them up with a mixture of leaves (preferably shredded) and a few handfuls of soil. Moisten the mixture and tie up the bags. About once a week, give each bag a vigorous shake to remind your leaves that they're meant to be turning into compost, not just sleeping through the winter. In the spring, you'll have some good leaf mold that you can dig into your garden.
In addition to compost, leaves can provide you with useful mulch. And you might not have to rake the leaves as much or as far, if you decide to mulch around trees in your home landscape. You might see areas under trees where grass hardly grows at all. Perhaps you've tried growing grass (even shade-tolerant varieties such as St. Augustine grass) without success. There is a risk that the soil will erode over time, exposing the tree roots to the elements. If you use leaves as mulch around trees, you can protect the soil from erosion AND recycle nutrients back to the tree.
Of course the quickest way to shred leaves is to run over them with the lawnmower. If you plan to mulch around trees, it saves some effort if you rake the leaves close to the trees before you mow them. Of course, if your lawn has a light covering of leaves, you might wish to mow them and leave them on the grass. Research at Purdue and other universities shows that tree leaves can be mulched without any detrimental effects on the soil or turf. Actually, just the opposite may be true where tree leaf mulching may help improve the soil, according to Purdue's Zac Reicher, Assistant Professor/Turfgrass Extension Specialist. But remember that a heavy layer of leaves will smother the grass, and possibly encourage snow mold in some areas.
Don't overdo the mulching around trees, however. More is NOT better when it comes to the depth of mulch! The mulch layer shouldn't exceed a depth of 2 to 3 inches once it settles, even thinner within six inches or so of the base of the plant. This will prevent the retention of moisture against the trunk, according to David Marshall of the University of Florida IFAS Extension. You can read more of his mulching tips at http://leon.ifas.ufl.edu/leaves_dm_011101.htm or link directly from this article at my website.
Your trees are providing free mulch and compost, so please think how you can use your "gift" creatively before you haul the leaves to the landfill!
The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org or mail to: Steve Jones, "The Plant Man", P.O. Box 686, McMinnville, TN 37111. For resources and additional information, including archived columns, visit www.landsteward.org often.
