10/10/2026
Before you bag those leaves…
Every fall, we rake up one of the best FREE resources our yards produce, put it into bags, and haul it away—then turn around and spend money on mulch, compost and soil amendments.
Those leaves have another job to do.
🍁 Use them as mulch. I put a thick layer of leaves in my garden beds and top them with mulch. They help cover bare soil, suppress weeds and slowly break down underneath.
🍁 Add them to your compost. Fallen leaves are an excellent carbon-rich “brown” material. Mixed with nitrogen-rich greens, they eventually become dark, rich compost that can go right back into your garden.
🍁 Leave some for nature. Leaf litter provides shelter and habitat for insects and other small creatures and helps support the ecosystem happening right outside our doors.
🍁 Feed your soil. As leaves decompose, that organic material returns to the soil instead of being hauled away from the property.
Nature has a pretty efficient recycling system:
Tree → leaf → soil → tree. 🌳
So before you spend a Saturday raking, bagging and hauling every leaf to the curb, consider putting some of them to work instead.
Don’t throw away your leaves. Your garden wants them. 🍂🌱
