Don’t Bag It…Bed It! Using Fallen Leaves in the Garden

Fall has arrived and falling leaves are starting to litter the landscape. Don’t view fallen leaves as an untidy annoyance but as a free benefit. Instead of bagging up or burning leaves this year, use them in your garden beds. Leaf litter is the perfect mulch for your planting beds.

Leaving fallen leaves in your garden beds is one of the most effective ways to build healthy soil, protect local wildlife, and save money on commercial mulch. Rather than bagging and discarding this valuable natural resource, allow fallen leaves to remain in designated garden areas to transform them into a nutrient-rich powerhouse.

You can just let leaves stay where they fall and cover your garden beds, or take a more “tidy” approach and gather fallen leaves with a mulching mower and place the shredded leaves back into your beds, up to 3 inches thick. This method accelerates the decomposition process, prevents the leaves from matting into an impermeable, soggy barrier, and allows water and air to flow freely.

The leaf mulch will help maintain moisture over the winter and protect your plants from cold weather. I usually do both methods – shredding the leaves for garden beds near my house and allowing other leaves to just fall and stay in the back area of my garden to give some protection to small critters. Decomposing leaf litter functions as a slow-release natural fertilizer, infusing the soil with the vital nutrients plants require to thrive, including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium..

You can also add shredded leaves to your compost bin. The leaves will decompose and within a few months you will enjoy “black gold” – wonderful black organic matter that can be added to your planting beds in the spring and summer to help your plants thrive.

And for those who have many trees and need to remove some of the leaf litter, try raking instead of using a blower. Did you know that raking leaves is an excellent way to burn calories and stay fit?  An average adult can burn 250-400 calories per hour raking leaves! So celebrate this fall season and appreciate the value of falling leaves!