Don't Throw Those Leaves Away!

Tip of the Week: Composting, Mulching, and Removing Leaves

Now that summer is officially over, you’ve undoubtedly spotted the leaves on the trees turning bright yellow, orange, and red. Soon that beautiful fall foliage will begin to fall to the ground, collecting with the rest of its fall foliage friends.  You have a few decisions to make once the leaves have collected on your yard. Do nothing, and leave them on your lawn (smothering grass and perennials in the process), collect them and put them out on the curb for pick up, or save them. Yes, I said save them – use them for your own garden and as mulch for this year and next.

Instead of hauling away some or all of your leaves, here’s how to save them for your own use.

Mow and Mulch Leaves: You’re not going to be able to keep up with all of the leaves – it’s almost impossible. Even if you collect them and put them out on the curb for pick up, some will blow back into your yard.  When this happens – just get out your lawn mower. If you have a grass catcher or bagger on your mower - take it off. You’ll want to take a few passes over the leaves to reduce them to dime-size pieces. Once you've completed mowing let mother-nature take its course. The little worms and microbes in the ground will turn this leaf mulch into nutrient rich soil, thus feeding your lawn.

Create Leaf Mold: Yes, create your own pile of mold. Leaf mold is a great, all natural way to amend soil with organic matter, or to add to a potting mix. It’s free, easy, and beneficial the environment. The easiest way to make leaf mold is to pile leaves up in an out of the way spot. Leave for two years, and voila, you have nutrient rich leaf mold. You can speed up the process by piling the leaves in batches and running your lawn mower over them a few times. I recommend creating a cage to keep the leaves from blowing out. Turn the leaves over every so often to speed up the decomposition process. Then use when leaves have begun to break down. You can also use sooner to mulch around your trees and flower beds this fall.

Removing Leaves: Finally, if you just have way too many leaves, and want some or all taken away to the local recycling station, you can have a professional like me come and remove the leaves. If your city provides a leaf removal service, put them out on the curb in a pile or in brown paper yard waste bags for pick up. Most major cities and counties have leaf pick up procedures, schedules, and/ or recycling stations for yard waste. Check your county or city’s webpage for more information. For Alexandria City residents the page is http://alexandriava.gov/YardWaste.

My company, The Greener Side Lawn and Landscaping will be keeping our reader's and customer's informed about the Alexandria City leaf pick up schedule and/or delays via our Facebook and Twitter pages. Both of which you can follow at www.facebook.com/GreenerSideLLC and www.twitter.com/GreenerSideLLC. 

Happy Mulching… Raking…Bagging… Let us know what you decide!

Aaron Gorski

Owner, The Greener Side Lawn & Landscaping, LLC

Got a landscaping question?  Send it my way: PatchQuestions@GreenerSideLLC.com