My mom was complaining that the city has limits on how many leaves that they’ll pick up, and she’s got bags and bags of leaves stuffed into black garbage bags. This seems like a problem that should have some kind of backyard solution.
I’ve done a cursory search, and see that leaves are very compostable. They can also apparently be turned into “mold”, though I don’t fully understand what this means.
But I also see that there is a lot of variety in compost bins, and they’re quite expensive. So I’m wondering: what’s the best strategy for making leaves go away? She’s not specifically interested in the product of the leaves, she just wants to find somewhere to put them after she rakes them up. Any ideas?
Is it practical to mulch them? Run them over with a mower and let them rot naturally. Its better for your lawn in the long run if you keep the nutrients on your lawn instead of constantly throwing them away.
That’s an interesting idea. I’ll add that to stuff to try. Thanks!
yeah, you can just let them rot. mold is a fungus eating it up. it is one factor in decomposition. there are also bacteria, insects and others eating dead leafs. fun fact: some plants need the leafs as cover to better survive the winter. decomposing plants can also become warm. the problem with garbage bags is: they don’t let air or microorganisms in, so the contents can’t rot to become soil as fast.
If youve got the space, it can be as simple as just piling them up and leaving them for a few years. My mom does this, they take about three years to break down into usable compost. They’ll go faster if chopped up by running the lawn mower over them before raking, or using a reverse leaf blower that shreds them.
There’s also definitely no need to buy a fancy compost bin - you’d do just fine with a garbage can with the bottom sawn off to let the worms in. My municipality also had bins for sale for like $25 that have worked well for me.
I don’t have any particular answer for you, but things like that are gonna highly depend on what city/state/country you live in and what their ordinances are.
“Leaf Mold” is the name given to that absolutely rich, fluffy, amazing turf found in forests. Could they have named it better so we don’t think of food gone rotten on the counter? Maybe. But it is a lovely, wonderful, amazing thing.
Best thing to do with leaves is leave them alone. Let them turn to fabulously delicious soil where they fall. And bonus, fewer chores to do. Plus you can sell all those leaf rakes and get some storage space back.
