A mulching mower turns leaves into a soil amendment. © Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
The city has announced its schedule for fall leaf collection and gardeners have some decisions to make. Will you rake and bag? Mow? Chop? Or, compost your own leaves to make your own soil amendment?
Instead of incinerating our leaves, the Department of Public Works composts them in wind rows through winter and makes the resulting soil amendment available for us to pick up in spring.
Leaves will be picked up Nov. 9 through Dec. 4. For availability of compost in spring, call the Southside Landfill, 317-247-6808.
Composted leaves are one of the best things we can use in our gardens. If you don’t want to bag the leaves for pick up, you have a few other options for keeping that leafy goodness on your property.
- With a mulching mower, mow the leaves that fall on your lawn. It may take a couple of passes to chop the leaves, but that is still less time that raking and bagging. By mowing the leaves and leaving them on your lawn, you can eliminate at least one application of fertilizer for the lawn. Leaving your grass clippings on the lawn during the mowing season also eliminates at least one application of fertilizer. These practices save money and time.
- Use the grass catcher on your mower to collect the chopped leaves and bag those for pick up. Or, dump the chopped leaves as winter cover on your vegetable bed or as mulch around perennials, trees and shrubs. As the chopped leaves break down, they add nutrients to the soil and improve its overall quality. Mother Nature’s gift to the gardener.
- Start your own composting operation for leaves. You can have an enclosed area or you can create a pile of leaves. Either way, you don’t really have to do anything except to let nature takes its course. Over the winter months, the leaves – either whole or chopped – will break down. Chopped leaves will break down more quickly. The end product is rich compost that can be used anywhere in the garden as a soil amendment or mulch. Again, it’s free.
Whatever method you decide to use, remember not to let the leaves accumulate on the lawn. Leaves smother the grass, and if left all winter, may encourage fungus disease in the lawn.