Wha’cha going to do with all those leaves? Mulch them.

By Bev Johnson | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, September 22, 2007

Even people who love trees, curse them when they drop bushels of leaves all over the homestead. Don't get mad, start mulching.

The leaves of one mature shade tree can be worth $50 in plant food and humus.

Besides adding food to your soil, when you mulch or compost leaves you save money and the gas that the city expends to pick up and compost your leaves and grass.

Of course, first you have to pick the darn things up.

If you have a strong back, you can rake them up. A half hour of raking expends 150 calories or the equivalent of a super-sized Big Mac. A grass catcher on the back of your lawnmower is a back-saving device for those with large lawns and less energy.

Although, dumping that bag will take a few calories too. The lawn mower has the added advantage of chopping the leaves as it picks them up.

If you have understanding neighbors, a leaf blower will pile the leaves up so you can run the mower over them to chop them up for composting.

There are also leaf vacuums. They cost in the neighborhood of $1,400 to $1,800, — a pretty spendy neighborhood.

However, if you have a lot of fences or hedges or places the leaves pile up that you can't get a lawnmower into, they may be just the tool you need.

Mulching your flowerbeds not only adds micro nutrients as they rot, but also protects the plants from heaving. The warming then cooling weather can cause the frost to push the roots of your plants out of the soil.

Understandably, this will kill those exposed roots.

Mulch keeps the soil temperatures more even, keeping the roots in the ground where they belong.

It also keeps the soil warmer longer into the fall giving those important roots more time to store food for next growing season.

Adding pine needles to the mix adds air, an excellent insulator. Pine straw also adds "lightness" to the soil as each needle leaves a space when it rots.

Tilling leaves into the vegetable garden in the fall also adds nutrients and humus to the soil. Add some nitrogen with the leaves as they do remove some of it from the soil as they rot.

You say you have too many leaves left over after you mulch?

Well then, compost them. Layer them with grass clippings, healthy garden debris, a little dirt and some organic fertilizer like animal manure or Mil Organite fertilizer. Never put cat or dog droppings in compost. They can have worms or parasites you don't want on your hands or in you soil.

Wait until spring to turn your pile. The experts at the University say this will help the pile maintain heat during the winter. Keep a small garbage

can in the kitchen for compostables during the winter. When the garbage bag is full, just set it outside if you can't get to the compost pile.

Add it the spring and turn the pile once a month in warm weather.

The result is brown gold. Your leaf-free lawn and your gardens will love you.

By the way, the flower is cleome, not dome.

Bev Johnson is a master gardener for West Otter Tail County.