If you are looking for a great way to get rid of those leaves that are falling and blowing all around your yard this fall – it’s hard to beat using them to both power and protect your plants, garden, and flowerbeds!
Falling leaves may be a bit of a nuisance to some, but they are truly a gift from nature. Not only do they light up the autumn landscape with brilliant fall colors, they also happen to be one of the most inexpensive ways to protect perennials, bushes, gardens and flowerbeds from weeds and winter’s fury.
On our farm, leaves are incredibly abundant. And do we ever use them! For starters, they are a major component in our compost piles. But they also are the perfect organic mulch to protect strawberries and our fall garlic and onion crop over the winter months. And they are great for perennial plants too!
In fact, we actually use leaves in four distinct ways to help build better soil and protect out plants – and we thought we share each of them in detail today. Hopefully, a few of these can work for you to help make great use of all of autumn’s leaves.
4 Great Ways To Use Leaves To Power & Protect Your Garden & Flowerbeds!
#1 Protecting Plants In The Garden
Leaves are excellent for protecting late season, overwintering and perennial garden crops. Three to four inches of shredded leaves provide great insulation and weed protection for fall planted crops such as garlic, onions and strawberries.
For these crops, it’s always best to shred leaves for these plants first. Whole leaves can trap in lots of moisture and can sometimes snuff oxygen out as well at the soil level. We shred our leaves quickly and easily with our lawn mower and then lay down the leaf mulch around the plants.
If you live in an area with lots of wind, it’s a good idea to water down the leaves once you apply the mulch. This will help to set the leaves together and keep them from blowing away. Some gardeners also top coat the shredded leaves with straw or a very light coat of whole leaves on top to help keep it in place as well.
#2 Creating A Leaf “Cover Crop” In The Garden – 4 Great Ways To Use Leaves To Power & Protect Garden & Flowerbeds!
If you didn’t get a chance to plant a cover crop in your garden this fall – now is the time to cover it with a thick “cover crop” of leaves instead.
Just like a cover crop, a thick coating of leaves will keep your garden soil from being exposed to harsh winter rains, snow and wind. Without protection, winter winds can quickly whisk away the top layer of your soil. In the process, it leaves your soil with less nutrients for next year’s crops.
We use leaves for this purpose in a few of our rows or in raised beds where we had a late fall crop growing. Sometimes it’s just too late to get the cover crop seed to germinate, so we use leaves as a great alternative.
When doing this, we like to start with a few inches of shredded leaves and then a few more inches on top of whole leaves to help keep them in place. This works to keep the soil covered, suppressing existing weeds and blocking new weed seeds from finding bare soil.
That coverage also helps to cut down on next year’s weeds by making it hard for blowing and drifting seeds to find a home. It is a win-win that is 100% free of charge! Then, the following spring, whatever has not broken down we leave on top as a first layer of mulch.
#3 Protecting Perennials, Shrubs and Bushes – 4 Great Ways To Use Leaves To Power & Protect Garden & Flowerbeds!
Whole leaves are also perfect for using around rose bushes, asparagus, strawberry plants, blueberry bushes and perennial flowers. All of these plants benefit greatly from a bit of protection from the constant freezing and thawing winter can bring.
A covering of leaves helps to regulate the soil temperature for perennials. Even more, it also protects their roots from completely freezing out if the thermometer drops too low. Whole leaves are fine here as the plants are larger and need more protection. See our article: What To Do To Your Rose Bushes In The Fall – Before Winter Arrives!
#4 Build A Great Fall Compost Pile – 4 Great Ways To Use Leaves To Power & Protect Garden & Flowerbeds!
And yes, without a doubt, our favorite way to use leaves in the fall is to build the perfect fall compost pile! Leaves break down quickly (when shredded first) and are filled with all kinds of plant-loving nutrients.
When it comes to composting, it is important to know that some leaves are better than others for your pile. Maple, birch, ash, beech and fruit tree leaves are fantastic to compost and use in the garden and landscape.
Oak leaves on the other hand should be composted in moderation. The leaves of oaks tend to be more acidic. Unfortunately, too many in a pile can result in compost that is less than ideal for most vegetable gardens.
A good rule of thumb is to use no more than 10 to 20% of oak leaves. This will help to keep a compost pile from becoming overly acidic. In addition, always add fresh compost or use a compost starter to activate the leaf compost pile for quick decomposition. Affiliate Link: Jobe’s Organics Fast Acting Granular Fertilizer Compost Starter
Shred Those Leaves
Like anything you put into a compost pile, leaves benefit greatly from being shredded first. Whole leaves won’t compost quickly if left alone on the ground or in a compost pile. If you don’t own a shredder, no worries. A regular old push mower or riding mower does a great job of shredding leaves. If you have a bagging attachment, even better!
We create a long pile and use our riding mower to shred them fast. In about 5 minutes, we can reduce a massive pile of into a couple of wheelbarrow loads of shredded bits.
Store A Few Piles For Spring Planting – 4 Great Ways To Use Leaves To Power & Protect Garden & Flowerbeds!
If you still have leaves left after using all four of the methods above, it’s a great idea to store some to use next spring at planting time. We love to use three basic forms of organic mulch – straw, compost and lots and lots of shredded leaves when planting.
The compost / shredded leaf mix really helps to retain moisture for plants. It also breaks down quickly, making valuable nutrients available to the plants as it does. We use it both in our planting holes and also on top around the plants as a mulch.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start collecting those leaves and power up your garden and landscape for free! Happy Gardening – Jim & Mary.
Old World Garden
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
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