Composting is a great way to use up your autumn leaves without having them go into the trash. Many people don’t realize how much of an impact they can make when you put something like this right back into nature! The following tips on how to use leaves for compost should help get things going quickly and efficiently:
Compost is the black gold of gardening. It’s not only great at building soil and powering plants, but it also has endless applications for keeping your garden healthy.
Leaf compost is an incredible way to ensure that your plants get all their nutrition. You can use it on its own or in addition to soil, but either way, you’ll have more than enough for every plant if you know how to use leaves for compost.
If you live near a forest with ample trees, this is the perfect time of year to make your compost pile. This large collection can provide all that black gold we need by next spring. To learn how to use leaves for compost, read these guidelines,
How To Use Leaves For Compost
When most people think about composting, they think of rotting fruits and vegetables. But there are many other things you can add to your compost pile to create rich, dark earth. One of the most overlooked ingredients is leaves. Leaves make great compost because they are high in carbon and nitrogen. And best of all, they’re free! Here’s how to use leaves for compost.
Select The Best Leaves
Do you want to know how to use leaves for compost but don’t know which type of leaves is best?
Since there are many different types of leaves, it is important to select the best ones for composting. The key difference between them is their nutrient content and how quickly they can break down in a landfill or garden bed environment.
The leaves on trees such as maple, birch, and ash are excellent choices to use for a pile. These varieties break down fast, which means they’re higher in nutrients than other types of vegetation that might take longer to decompose or have too many bugs living in them!
When working on how to use leaves for compost, keep in mind that walnut and eucalyptus trees are some of the worst trees to plant near your crops because they contain toxins that can harm plants. These leaves prevent seed germination in many cases, so it’s best to avoid these altogether or take precautions when trimming them after harvesting their fruits!
Shredding Of The Leaves
Now that you know what leaves to use, the next step is building your leaf-filled compost pile; this will take some time, but it’s worth the wait.
Whole leaves will take forever to break down. But when you shred them before creating a pile, decomposition will occur faster.
Leaves are a huge hassle to deal with, but there’s an easy way around it. You can use a push mower for shredding piles of leaves quickly.
Building The Pile
Building a fast working leaf compost pile is easy and can be done all at once or over time as materials become available. Unlike typical piles that need constant additions to stay fresh, this one will keep you clean!
The key to building a compost pile is ensuring that it has the right ingredients. If you only use leaves, then your decomposition will be slow, which can take up lots of time! It would be best if you always tried adding some other materials for more nutrients.
To get a compost pile going that decomposes quickly, you need to use brown and green materials. There are plenty of leaves in this case, so adding some fresh greens will help kick-start the process right away!
Getting The Right Mix
As is true with many things, green grass clippings are one of the most overlooked and underutilized materials. They’re great for heating a pile; they break down quickly, making them perfect additions to your compost bin or mulch pile. You can also use manure from chickens/rabbits; make sure it’s fresh manure (no old waste).
Composting is great for the environment, but it doesn’t speed things up. The way to do that? Try adding some fresh compost from an existing pile! All those beneficial microbes and organisms will be key in breaking down materials much more quickly than if you were using regular dirt or sand without any special additions. There are other fun ways people can use their completed piles too.
What you need to remember about your leaf pile is that it will eventually decompose no matter what. But the more greens and browns we can balance out with our additions, the faster this process works!
What To Put In Leaf Pile
- We add about a 3′ x 3′ x 3′ pile of shredded leaves to our fall compost piles to get things started. Next up are some 5-gallon buckets with fresh green grass clippings and finally two or three more identical ones just in case!
- When it’s time to say goodbye to fall, we often throw in some soil from plants ready for the end of their growing season.
- Lastly, add chicken manure and any vegetable scraps.
- The coffee grounds provide a source of green, and because they’re already soil-like, we don’t need to wait for them to break down. It means that from now on until spring, only our morning brew will be added as an ingredient in the leaf pile.
Turning The Pile
Like a traditional compost pile, leaves greatly benefit from occasional turning. Turning your leaf pile on occasion help to introduce oxygen and distribute moisture levels in the soil-like substance that is being accumulated, but it also allows you more control when spreading out any smelly or damp materials left over after processing plants through an ordinary home; garbage disposal unit!
Remember to turn your pile a minimum of two times per week until the temperature reaches freezing. If you notice that it has become too dry, add some water and mix well before turning it on again once springtime arrives!
By early June, you will have a pile of compost ready to go and full of nutrients. All from leaves!
Final Thoughts
Are you now satisfied with how to use leaves for compost?
Thanks for following along with our guide on how to use leaves for compost! We hope you’ve learned how to use leaves for compost, and you now feel confident in your ability to start building your organic compost pile using leaves and other natural materials. If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. And be sure to check back soon – we have plenty of gardening tips and tricks up our sleeves that we can’t wait to share with you. Happy composting!
