BROWSE HOW TOs

How to Compost Autumn Leaves

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Rate: (13 Ratings)

Composting leaves in the fall is a great way to dispose of them. Not only is composting easy, it gives you some great mineral-rich soil to help with your gardening in the spring. There are a few guidelines you should follow to ensure success when you compost autumn leaves.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Manure fork
Lawnmower or leaf shredder
Tarp

Step1

Think about shredding leaves before you compost them. Shredded leaves are much easier to turn in a compost pile. These leaves will also break down much faster than whole leaves. You don't need to shred leaves, but it's easily done by running over them with a lawn mover.

Step2

Add your leaves to your compost pile. You should try to bury the new compost material deep into the pile, just like you do when you add any new material to it. Covering the leaves will help the compost pile turn into soil quickly.

Step3

See if you need to add manure or a supplement to your compost. If you have a new compost pile, a supplement like bone meal or manure can help speed the compost process. These materials are rich in nitrogen, which is essential for the natural composting process.

Step4

Turn your compost pile every 4 or 5 days. Using a manure fork, mix the compost so that the material that was on the top is now shifted into the middle of the pile. Also try to bring some of the compost from the bottom up to the top of the pile. Turning is much easier when the leaves are shredded before they are put into the pile.

Step5

Consider putting a tarp over your compost pile during the late autumn and winter. This tarp will help keep heat in the compost pile and keep moisture out of it. You'll still need to turn the pile every week.

Tips & Warnings

There's really no limit on how many leaves you can put in a compost pile. If you want to add all the leaves in your yard, you'll really need to shred them first and add a nitrogen supplement to them to be sure that they all turn into compost.
Save some of the shredded leaves to insulate your perennials during winter. Shredded leaves can also be saved and used as mulch in the spring.
Add a tall wire fence around your compost pile. You need to keep animals like skunks and raccoons out of your compost pile. A fence is especially important if you are putting food scraps in your pile.

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Comments

DiscountTickets said

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on 9/23/2008 Never even thought of doing this before, great thinking.

Fike said

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on 9/23/2008 Nice, specific-concern article. Now I need to read about forming a compost heap that develops effectively in the Mojave Desert! Any recommendations?

deedavis said

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on 9/23/2008 That is a great idea. Great article.

purplepatty said

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on 9/23/2008 In order to have an efficient compost pile the ratio of brown (dried leaves, etc.) material to green (fresh mown grass, etc.) material should be around 50/50. I start a new compost pile in the fall just for leaves and end-of-the-season grass. The brown and green material is layered with a little garden dirt and watered if need be, and turned every time I add new material--about once a week. When I have far more brown material than green, I get lawn clippings from the neighbors (they think I'm nuts), but I always have the best compost on the block.

My old compost pile is made of material I have collected all spring and summer with the addition of kitchen scrapes. Again, no meat, fat or milk products of any kind. I made three wire bins which enables me to fork each pile into an empty bin (much easier and efficient than "turning"). During the winter I cover the piles with a tarp t