4 Ways To Use Fallen Leaves to Improve Your Soil For FREE!

Fall is fast approaching and with it, pumpkin spice lattes, hayrides and falling leaves! Most people spend their Fall weekends raking and bagging fallen leaves for disposal and collection. What if I told you there was another option? Using fallen leaves in your yard and garden are a great way to improve your soil’s health as well as reduce greenhouse gases! Fallen leaves offer the following benefits in the garden:

• Leaves create a natural mulch that helps to suppress weeds while fertilizing the soil as it breaks down.

• The leaves serve as a habitat for wildlife including lizards, birds, turtles, frogs, and insects that overwinter in the fallen leaves. This wildlife also offers natural protection against certain garden pests as well.

• Micro-organisms are the life of soil, and they need food and nutrients all the time. The more leaves left on your garden, the more feed for these micro-organisms that make soil healthier and plants grow stronger.

• Leaves can be used as mulch. Mulching is a simple and beneficial practice you can use to create a healthy garden, and if you have trees, you have free mulch at your fingertips each Fall. You can mulch leaves where they fall, chop them up with your mower, or choose to move the leaves. Leaves work well in between rows of crops or around fruit trees, areas where there is heavy machine or foot traffic, and shaded areas where vegetation doesn’t grow well. They can also be used in between growing seasons rather than leaving the soil bare.

Leaves collected in ring

For collection and storage, you can opt to collect and store them in a pallet bin or a wire wring or a garden bed or even mulch them in place. So as the days grow shorter and sweater weather replaces bathing suits, remember to collect and use your leaves as a FREE fertilizer alternative and an awesome way to improve your soil’s health!

Reference: USDA website