It’s November, But Don’t Toss Those Leaves

Don’t toss those leaves! At one time November was ushered in with the smell of burning leaves. Everyone did it. First, the leaves were raked into giant piles. As kids, we would jump into the piles with reckless abandon. Then, our mothers set the leaves on fire – once the kids were out for the most part.

What fun! But no one thought of the downside of burning leaves. Fire danger aside, burning leaves is not a good practice. The smoke from flaming leaf piles is made up of tiny toxic particles that easily enter the lungs where they stay for a very long time. These particles can increase the risk of respiratory infection and make life a whole lot worse for those suffering from asthma. No wonder the madman spent a good deal of his early life being sick.

Hydrocarbons

Not convinced? Damp burning leaves tend to give off chemicals called hydrocarbons which irritate the eyes, nose and throat. Besides, some hydrocarbons are carcinogenic. When leaf piles burn slowly they also emit carbon monoxide. Inhale this gas and it will be absorbed by the blood, reducing the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream. In case you’re wondering, this is not a good thing.

From a people’s perspective, burning leaves is not a good practice. Also, this pollution doesn’t help the environment. In fact, it’s so bad that most municipalities have banned the burning of leaves. With proper permits, you can burn brush and small sticks, but never leaves and grass.

So what can you do with these leaves? Here in Farmington, we can rake them all to the curb where town trucks will suck them up and take them to a compost facility. That’s much better than hauling them to a landfill where they add to the production of greenhouse gasses. But, the madman wants to keep his leaves.

What About Pollinators?

After our post on leaf color, friend and master gardener Tom Kalal asked about the best practice to protect the native pollinators who lay their eggs in leaf litter. Tom, the best answer is to join the growing movement called “Leave the Leaves.” Sounds like a great idea, but not always totally practical, especially if you have young (or old) children who enjoy running through the lawn. Lawns are not natural, but it’s much easier to play football or soccer on a lawn rather than in a meadow.

From your lawn’s perspective, a thick layer of leaves will kill it. But, a thin layer will help it. By mulching the leaves and leaving them in place, you’ll add nutrients to the soil and help insulate both pollinators and lawn over the winter.

Too Many Leaves

Sometimes there are too many leaves to just leave in place. We face this. And, then there’s the driveway and patio that are full of leaves. Best practice here is to rake them, but leave them on your property. Which is what we do. We rake them into big piles – I think the madman only does this so he can act like a kid for a while and jump into the leaves. When he’s done playing, he’ll mulch them and throw them into the leaf bin. In the interest of minimizing disruption to pollinator eggs, he uses the coarsest setting on the mulcher. This will help ensure that the pollinators will be around for the next gardening season.

A Good Idea

Our leaf bin was one of the madman’s better ideas. Before that we had a leaf pile on the edge of the lawn, but eventually roots from a Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) moved in taking advantage of readily available moisture. So, a few years ago we decided to try something new.

The madman built a bin out of old wooden pallets. The original idea was to use the structure as a holding bin for leaves that would serve as garden mulch for the next spring. But, guess what? We found that we collected and stored more leaves than we could use, so some just sat there quietly decomposing. As the madman began moving the old leaves to one side of the bin to prepare for this year’s influx, he discovered a nice layer of leaf mold. Black gold he called it.

Leaf Mold

Just what is leaf mold? It is not compost, not really anyway. But, it is composted tree leaves. The main difference lies in the composting action. Traditional composting uses bacteria to generate heat while leaf mold uses fungi to drive a slower and cooler decomposition process. The decomposition of leaves occurs naturally in the forest, resulting in a moist growing medium for young plants. Since it blankets the forest floor, it helps retain moisture during dry periods.

The material at the bottom of the madman’s leaf bin is an excellent soil amendment, often increasing the ability to hold water by 50%. It also creates a habitat for beneficial soil organisms, both large and small. So, while it is not high in nutrients like regular compost, it’s an excellent additive to improve soil structure and increase moisture retention. The madman is moving his newfound “black gold” to a special bin. In the spring, he’ll mix this with regular compost to use as container soil for his hot peppers. I intend to steal some of it to use as mulch in next year’s garden beds.

Leaves are Hanging On

Around here the leaves are still clinging to the trees. But when they do come down, we’ll take our time. We’ll rake some. We’ll throw some in the leaf bin. But we’ll leave a bunch where they fall so nature can make her own leaf mold.

But, while we’re waiting for the leaves, we’ll have a cup of hot cocoa.