What to Do With All Those Leaves in Your Yard

Leaves are everywhere right now, and if you’re like us, you just can’t keep up with them in your yard. They keep falling, and you need something productive to do with them. Oak trees, pine trees and maple trees, especially, produce a lot of fallen leaves throughout the fall. And while raking them in your yard might be a great exercise, nevertheless, it can get tiring after the third straight day.

Yard Clean Up

With the abundance of fall leaves in our yards, it’s time to put them to good use (and we aren’t just talking about letting the kids jump in them). There are plenty of ways to get rid of your leaves and put the nutrients from them back into your yard. Did you know that pound for pound, the leaves of most trees contain twice as many minerals as manure? Therefore, because most trees are deep-rooted, they absorb minerals from deep in the soil and a good portion of these minerals go into the leaves.

You can’t just let those nutrients go to waste.

What To Do With the Leaves

Here are 7 things you can do with those leaves:

1. First, mow over them a few times. The chopped leaves will break down and add valuable organic matter and mineral nutrients to your lawn.
2. Next, spread them like mulch. This insulates your tender perennials and prevents a few other plants from freezing during winter.
3. Use them as a weed barrier. Leaves suppress weeds and help retain soil moisture; therefore, they can stop the spreading of new weeds.
4. Make compost. Carbon-rich leaves pair well with summer’s nitrogen-rich grass clippings. Layer 3-4 inches of old leaves with an inch of fresh grass clippings or other green leafy yard waste.
5. Bag them up and have them hauled away. Sometimes a local school will collect these as part of a project. It never hurts to bag them up and ask around to find some takers. Look into getting a lawn sweeper — it’s much faster than hand raking and does a better job at picking up the leaves.
6. Use it as animal bedding. If you keep poultry or livestock, use your leaves for litter or bedding along with straw or hay.
7. Give them to your wife for crafts. Trust us, you’ll score some points for this one if you have a significant other that enjoys crafting.

Whatever you decide to do with your leaves, don’t let them go to waste. Try at least one of the ideas above and feel better about the leaves that just won’t stop falling.