Mulching

Saving your leaves to add to your compost throughout the year is a great way to keep them out of the landfill, but sometimes you have more leaves than you know what to do with! Mulching is another great way to reduce waste and return valuable nutrients to your yard and soil.

How it’s done

You can either mulch leaves and other woody material by spreading them directly on top of the soil, where it slowly decomposes or you can mow over leaves with a mulching mower to break them down a bit first. Directly applying leaves to the soil is a great idea around trees, shrubs and other plants or as a cover for your garden before winter. If you are using a mulching mower, the leaves can be left on the lawn to break down and add nutrients to the soil or you can remove them and add them to you garden or compost bin. Mulching is a great way to build fertile soil that controls weeds, retains moisture, and resists erosion.