In My Garden Blog
Middle South
November 14, 2002
By
Barbara Pleasant,
Brevard, NC
When the color show ends, enlist leaves for their next job – enriching your soil – by piling them in a heap where they can slowly decompose.
Why Rake?
I moved to a new place in August, and now that the leaves are down I can finally start a new compost heap. Bigger is better where compost is concerned, and there's nothing like a fresh crop of leaves to make a compost bin bulge. Plus, we all need good reasons to rake. The truth be told, raking is an unnatural act. Our world is designed to exist in a perpetual state of mulched-ness. Who am I to interfere with such a great plan?
Creating Compost
Actually, my idea is to simply rearrange things a bit by funneling some of my leaves into my compost bin, along with my potato peelings, celery stalks, and coffee grounds. Later in the winter, when the leaves are well leached and ready to begin actually decomposing, I'll add some horse manure to the mix. Because leaves are mostly carbon, include manure or another rich source of nitrogen to get leaf compost cooking.
My compost will be mostly maple, because maple leaves are thin and fast to rot compared to oak leaves, which sometimes take two years to decompose. Those I'll leave where they fall, or maybe dump them into their own slow pile, where they can gradually become leaf mold. Besides, my maple leaves must be removed from the driveway. Asphalt and wet leaves are a dangerous combination. Instead of slipping about under feet and tires, those leaves can become compost.
Still Seeing Green
Cool weather has revealed a gorgeous patch of bluegrass in a section of my yard, so the dogwood leaves there will need to go to compost-land, too. Ditto for the leaves I've been sweeping off the deck to a shady area that's paved with pretty green moss. Neither cool-season grass (like bluegrass or fescue) nor moss can grow well without light, and I'm a sucker for things that want to be green.
We welcome your questions and comments about this column. If you have gardening questions unrelated to the column, please ask them on our message boards.