ATH - Autumn leaves: Don’t just ‘leave’ them lie on the ground

  • Jennifer Kneuss
  • August 24, 2010
  • 250
                        
Leaves, leaves, everywhere. Falling leaves, autumn’s signature, can be downright lovely. Raked into a large pile and then leaped into by eager children, they can be pure joy. There is, however, such a possibility of too much of a good thing. Leaves can clog rain gutters and sewers, and left to lay intact on the lawn all winter, may kill off grass. Here are a few ways to recycle that growing layer of leaves in your backyard. q Use leaves for mulch. This may sound obvious, but leaves provide a plentiful, and free, source of mulch to protect and over-winter tender perennials and shrubs. Most cities also offer a free pickup service to take leaves and mulch them at city facilities, too, so take advantage of this for any overabundance. q Compost leaves. Gardens love a thick pile of lovely compost for the winter months. The quickest way to do this is to shred or crumble leaves into small pieces, and fill a bin of some sort at least ¾ full. You can also add kitchen (no fats or meats!) and other yard waste. A recycled plastic barrel, drilled with small holes, is great for this. Add enough water to dampen the whole pile. Allow to sit for four days. Pick up a compost accelerant at a garden center, and add according to manufacturer’s directions. Turn the pile every two days until you have a black and brown, crumbly compost. This accelerated method only takes about four weeks to finish. Spread it on your garden to nourish the soil over the winter. Take this a step further and make compost tea to use as a foliar and soil spray. You will need a way to aerate this (check online or at the library for directions),ut it is amazing what a gallon of compost ‘brewed’ in four gallons of water can become: an amazing collection of microbes that produce outstanding results in the lawn and garden. q Kids’ Craft Projects. Leaf Quilt: Have kids collect leaves and glue them to colorful construction paper. When dry, laminate. Punch holes along all the sides, then lace all the papers together with yarn to make a ‘leaf quilt’. Leaf Prints: Paint the reverse side of leaves with colorful acrylic paints, then press onto paper. Or press onto a white t-shirt, allowing to dry before removing. Leaves can be preserved by placing individually between two sheets of paper towels and allowed to dry inside a heavy book, topped with other heavy books. Great for making cards or decorating around the house. q Costumes. Forget sewing all those fancy princess and pirate costumes this year! Convince the kids to go trick or treating as a pile of leaves. Grab a giant black trash bag, an old baseball cap, a glue gun or duct tape, and of course, autumn leaves. Make head and arm holes in the bag. Glue tons of leaves all over the bag and hat, and paint the kids’ faces in camo. Have them ring doorbells and quickly plop to the porch and wait for the unsuspecting resident to come to the door. They’ll see a pile of leaves on their front porch and are sure to be quite surprised when that pile comes to life, screaming ‘trick or treat’! (Note: Do not trick or treat in this costume at the home of anyone with a heart condition!) Better than a “scary” costume for the whole surprise factor. q “Leave” them be. Leaves are a marvelous organic additive for your lawn. Use a mulching mower and make several passes over a leaf strewn lawn. Let the bits spend the winter months dispensing essential trace amounts of nutrients into the soil.


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