Dealing with autumn's fallen leaves

Beautiful on the tree, autumn leaves present a challenge on the ground. — bimiers2/Creative Commons

We love the fall foliage, and think nothing of setting out on pleasure trips just to bask in nature’s beauty.

Once that gorgeous foliage falls to the ground, piling up around our ankles, it becomes so much debris. When leaves are choking the lawn, collecting in the driveway and clogging the flower beds, our attitude undergoes a dramatic shift. The ironic truth is that we love the foliage but hate the leaves.

A typical forested area drops about 3,000 pounds of leaves and twigs per acre annually, representing a layer about six inches deep, according to scientists. Even the average suburban lot with a dozen trees and twice as many shrubs is obviously producing a heap of stuff to deal with every fall.

Well, take heart. There are more productive and creative things to do with your leaves than to treat them like garbage. If you consider their potential to improve your soil, or their value as protective mulch for your plants — or their versatility as a plaything — you may find yourself in a better mood when autumn leaves start to fall. Try some of these strategies:

LEAVE THEM

If your property is wooded or partially so, take the natural approach and just leave the leaves alone. What do you think happens in the forests, where neither rake nor leaf blower intrudes on nature’s cyclical schemes?

Deciduous leaves protect the forest floor, and provide the litter or duff in which creatures of the soil take cover. The nutrient-rich leaves will eventually break down, helped along by bacteria and by worms that emerge at night to recycle organic matter on the surface.

You can pile leaves 3 to 6 inches deep around trees and shrubs to protect them from the cold, hold down the weed population and create a spongy layer to check runoff from heavy rains. Get over the idea that leaves are “messy” — no one thinks of anatural woodland as hopelessly unkempt.

You can’t leave deep layers of leaves on your lawn, since they can smother the grass and, by holding moisture, promote snow mold, a fungal disease that creates patches of white or pinkish filaments.

MOW THEM

One of the easiest ways to deal with leaf accumulations on the lawn is to mow them in place. This works best with a mower fitted with mulching blades, but even with standard blades, a pass or two with the mower will reduce the leaf litter to crumbs that will filter down into the sod.

Studies at Michigan State, Cornell, Purdue and Rutgers universities have confirmed that mowing leaves on the lawn and leaving them there does not hurt healthy turf. The increased microbial action promoted by crumbled leaf litter actually improves soil quality, especially on heavy clay soils, and prevents any buildup of matted particles.

Ideally, you shouldn’t wait until leaves are ankle deep before starting your mowing regimen. Weekly mowing not only will keep the leaf volume manageable, but will benefit grass growing strongly in the cool temperatures of fall. Don’t worry about aesthetics — chopped leaves quickly disappear between the blades of grass.

Those of you who have bagger attachments should be able to collect chopped, mowed leaves along with grass clippings, an ideal combination for starting a compost heap or using as a soil amendment.

Leaves can be as beautiful as any flower. — Kylir/Creative Commons

TILL THEM IN

If you have a vegetable garden or annual bed that you till annually, leaves are a free source of nutrients that can improve soils and boost new season’s crop of fruits and flowers. There is one caveat here, though.

During the first six to eight months of decomposition, leaves produce phenols that inhibit the growth of seedlings. Don’t bag the leaves and hoard them until spring, since the process won’t run its natural course. Spread leaves on the beds or corral them in temporary bins of chicken wire, leave them for the winter and then till them in when the soil begins to warm next April.

Weathered leaves have exhausted their phenol content and won’t affect spring plantings.

COMPOST THEM

Left to their own devices, leaves break down into leaf mold, a crumbly, airy soil additive or mulch. Since leaf burning was outlawed and leaf disposal in landfills banned, many municipalities collect leaves for composting in huge quantities.

Some towns require leaves to be bagged; others permit them to be raked or dumped at the curb for collection by giant vacuum equipment.

If you send your leaves off to the town heap, you may be able to retrieve already composted leaves for your garden next spring. Many towns offer leaf compost free, and some will deliver it. Check with your public works department or local recycling coordinator.

Many gardeners consider disposing of leaves off-site a waste of time. Why send all that good stuff away, only to drag finished product back later? There’s nothing scientific about home composting. Make a bin of wire fence, railroad ties or bales of hay and dump in the leaves, along with grass clipping, yard trimmings and kitchen vegetable waste. (No meat, dairy or pet droppings, please!)

Aficionados of the heap will moisten and turn, cover and tend, all in the interests of getting usable compost sooner. But you don’t have to do all that — a pile of vegetative waste will inexorably rot. It’s ready to use when it becomes black and crumbly, and the component parts are no longer distinguishable.

RAKE THEM

Yes, the time may come when you’re forced to take a rake in hand to collect leaves or move them off walks, driveways and patios. Make the job easier with these simple pointers:

First, get a rake long enough so that you can stand upright without hunching while you work — it’s kinder to your back. Many styles of rakes now on the market are designed for ergonomic efficiency and lessen the strain.

Second, wear gloves. Even a cheap pair of 99-cent cotton work gloves will cushion and protect your hands. Nothing’s more annoying than that raking blister that develops at the base of your thumb after a workout with the leaves.

Third, buy a tarp. The easiest way to move bulky leaves around is to rake them onto a plastic or canvas tarp. Gather the corners, trapping the leaves, and away you go to the compost heap, garden or curb. (If you must bag, set the bag in a garbage can or secure it to one of the many devices designed to keep the “mouth” open while you work.)

Fourth, take it easy. Instead of embarking on a marathon, rake your leaves in shorter sprints and rest your muscles in between bouts. Enlist the kids. Help them heap up the leaves and let them jump into the piles, an innocent childhood pastime that never loses its charm.

An arrangement of fall leaves and berries. — Debra Prinzing/CC

PRESERVE THEM

Brilliantly colored fall foliage is as pretty as any flower, and an arrangement of leaves — with or without autumn blossoms — can make an attractive bouquet.

Untreated leaves become dry, brittle and crumbly. To keep them pliable and their colors fresh, snip off the end of the stem and stand them in glycerin, available at most pharmacies. Or, alternately, spray them with a floral preservative from the crafts store. Skip the hairspray — it will only make the leaves sticky and attract dust.

Another way to preserve leaves is to wax them. Place your collected treasures between two layers of waxed paper, then press gently with an iron on the wool setting. You can cut around the individual leaves, which should hold their tints for months, or just trim the paper neatly and hang the entire collection in a window where sunlight will shine through the translucent colors.

Caution: When collecting leaves for fall crafts, avoid vines clad in three-leafed foliage of bright scarlet — it’s poison ivy. A similar bright red vine with leaves clustered in groups of five is Virginia creeper, and it’s entirely safe to handle.

RUB THEM

Place a sheet of plain white paper over a leaf set upside down, to make its veins more prominent. With the side of a peeled crayon, gently rub the paper over the leaf and watch its image magically appear. You can experiment with using two or more colors to make a variegated leaf.

Rubbings make pretty greeting cards — fold a rectangle of paper in half to make the card, create the leaf image and add a message. Voilà! Homemade note cards as pretty as any you can buy.

For another look entirely, set leaves under squares of aluminum foil. You don’t need anything other than your hand to rub the foil, making a perfect leaf facsimile. Either kind of leaf rubbing can be carefully cut out, glued to cardboard and strung into mobiles or hung as fall decorations.

Tip: For rubbing, pick leaves that are still clinging to trees. Dried out leaves may crumble in the hands of an enthusiastic artist.

PRESS THEM

Professional botanists preparing specimens for herbariums — collections of preserved plant material — use a wooden frame press with straps or screws for adjusting the pressure. You can find these in craft shops, or can make one from two pieces of plywood lined with blotter paper and fastened together at the corners with wing-nuts.

Too complicated? Use a heavy book like a dictionary topped with a couple of bricks to add weight. Collect dry leaves since mildew can form on damp ones, and brush off any clinging dirt or insects.

Place leaves between sheets of absorbent paper like newsprint and insert them into your book or press. Leave it in a dry, well-ventilated place for four to eight weeks, checking occasionally for moisture and replacing the paper if it feels damp.

Leaves are completely dry if they stand upright when held by the stem. Colors will gradually fade, but meanwhile, you can use pressed leaves emblazoned with guests’ names for place settings, glue slim ones to acid-free paper for bookmarks (a clear contact paper covering will save them from abrasion) or create your own herbarium documenting plants growing in your garden, your neighborhood or more exotic places you have visited.