Comments on: Leaf Gathering & Storage

By: Kenny Point

Kenny Point — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:12:41 +0000

Hi Erik, I collect every leaf that I can find in the fall and store them over the winter to use the following spring and summer in the compost pile. If you plan ahead and keep it dry you can also turn some of your “green” matter like grass clippings into “brown” matter. Straw can also be obtained in most areas and can be mixed in with your surplus of green composting materials.

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:47:39 +0000

I have what is probably a fairly typical composting situation – between grass clippings (just a small section where loose grass tends to end up in the pool) and kitchen scraps, I tend to get a lot of “green” stuff to compost. Here in New Jersey, it’s not really too much of a problem early in the season because I usually have a large stockpile of uncomposted leaves to balance the green in my compost pile. But later in the summer, when the leaves have been used (and/or composted by themselves), I have too little “brown” material to keep the compost balance right. I’ve been mixing the greens in with the existing compost and turning more frequently but the pile gets too wet and it’s tending toward too wet.

Do you have any suggestions on how to handle the late-season composting? Do I just toss the additional green material to the side and let it ferment until the leaves start to fall?

By: Lani

Lani — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:16:41 +0000

Here in Australia, most local councils have a ‘green’ pickup – for leaves etc. In Perth many of the local councils will shred it on picking it up, and you can arrange for it to be dropped off to you if you want it (or collect it if you want from a depot).

It’s largely trees and similar – so very chunky mulch – but in our dry drought affected sandy environment it’s great coverage for the larger areas and eventually breaksdown.

One truck load dropped to a friends place a few months back (late summer here) was steaming and well over 50degrees C within a day or two, when we started spreading it over her front yard.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:29:59 +0000

Where space is limited, a simple solution is to place your leaves in the tomato garden for the winter. In Denver, which has a sunny and relatively mild winter, it’s possible to make a leaf pile in the tomato garden, mix it with the dead tomato plants, add some coffee grounds from time-to-time, turn once a week, and presto… mulch in time for summer planting.

By: Joe Mikitish

Joe Mikitish — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:45:43 +0000

I have a large garden and have convinced the local municipal trash service to send out a notice along with the early autumn bills asking the folks in the older part of town (they have the largest/most mature trees) to bag their leaves in biodegradable bags and set them in the alleyways. I spend most of my November weekends picking up these bags of leaves and running them through my shredder. I usually gather enough to mulch my garden in the winter and store enough to add throughout the year as needed. Needless to say, my worm population has exploded.

Another hint: Spread coffee grounds mixed with finely crushed egg shells prior to adding the mulch to keep the slugs/snails away!

By: Ellen

Ellen — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:35:57 +0000

Thanks Kenny! You are always so great about answering questions. I love your blog.