Using Autumn Leaves in the Garden

Why You Should Use Autumn Leaves in the Garden 

While falling leaves may seem like an inconvenience this time of year, in reality however, they have many valuable benefits that can help your garden thrive. Some added benefits to using autumn leaves in the garden include:

• Improving soil structure
• Boosting the soil’s microbial life
• Increasing the soil’s capacity to hold water
• Insulating plants from chilly winter temperatures

How To Use Them

The most effective way to reap the benefits of fallen leaves is to shred them beforehand. Once you have shredded your leaves, here are some ways you can use them to benefit your garden:

• Make a protective ground cover. Protect perennials from frosts and fluctuating winter temperatures by tossing a thick covering of shredded leaves over plants in the fall and gently rake off what didn’t decompose once the weather warms in the spring. This is extremely effective in protecting herb gardens in particular. 
• Make a garden path. Lay down a thick layer of shredded leaves where you want to kill vegetation, and the leaves will establish a path as they start to decompose. 
• Improve your lawn by mowing over them. Leave the leaves where they land and mow them into place and the bits of chopped leaves will decompose and add valuable nutrients to your grass, which means you’ll need less fertilizer in the spring. For most effective results, use a mulching mower with the bag removed. 
• Set up a worm bin. You can use fallen leaves to make a worm composting bin by using them as a comfortable burrowing material and adding plenty of food scraps and other kinds or organic material. In time, you’ll have high-quality compost for your garden.
• Insulate outdoor container plants. Cluster the pots in a sheltered location and pile leaves as thickly as possible within each pot. Consider using chicken wire as a frame to keep them from blowing away. 
• Mix into your compost pile. Dried leaves make an excellent “brown material” for compost piles. They have a high carbon content that can balance out wetter materials to create better habitat space for beneficial soil microbes. Consider bagging some of your fall leaves so you can add them to your compost pile