Mulching and Composting Your Leaves

You already know you can’t leave fallen leaves on your lawn in the fall lest they mold or suffocate your grass, but what can you do with them once you’ve raked them into those picturesque piles? Of course, your first step is to jump into the piles, with or without kids, then rake them up again. After that a lot of folks turn to burning, but why not make your leaves work for you? Turn your leaves into mulch or compost this fall. 

Composting leaves has several steps, but is quite effective–pound for pound, shade tree leaves have more nutrients than most other forms of compost. Remember, you’ll make this process much easier on yourself if you shred your leaves before you try to compost them. Run a mulching lawn mower over them and you’ll be set. Just like chewing your food makes it easier to digest, this breaks down leaves to encourage the decomposition process.

At this point you have mulch. If you’d like you use your leaves as mulch, you’re all set to do that! Remember to keep them in a designated bin just for mulch and discourage further decomposition. If you’d rather have compost, add extra nitrogen (manure is a good source of this, but not the only one) and turn the heap every three days. You should have compost in a little over two weeks.

Leaves are one of the major parts of fall–we love the changing colors, but they can be a lot of work. Don’t forget that Simply Green Lawn Care Plus is here to be your partner in lawn care in metro Atlanta. If you can’t handle your lawn, we can!