DIY Leaf Mulch— Turning Fall Leaves into Valuable Mulch

Homeowners often face leaves of the fall in piles that seem a chore to pick up, bag and haul away. But when used as leaf mulch, these leaves are a gardener’s friend.

Taking just a few simple steps will turn garden waste into a beneficial mulch that will provide nutrients to your soil, guards roots and helps with weeds. Make DIY leaf mulch out of autumn leaves.

Benefits of Leaf Mulch

Leaf mulch is not just attractive; there are several advantages to it.

It adds nutrients to your soil as it decomposes, which provides nutrients and helps with soil texture.

The slurry decomposes and supports the growth of earthworms and other beneficial microbes that establish an ecosystem in the earth’s subsurface.

Leaf mulch also keeps soil warm, holds moisture, and prevents weeds so your garden can get an overall good boost throughout the year.

Step by Step Process

#1 Collecting and Preparing Leaves

Collecting leaves is the beginning of making DIY leaf mulch.

Rough them up, but collect with a leaf blower or vacuum, especially in big yards. When harvested, make sure not to use leaves that are diseased or overrun with pests as they could bring issues to your garden beds.

They have to be broken down in order to convert leaves into mulch. Whole leaves can grow together to mat, shutting out the air and water.

You can also shred the leaves so they compost faster and form a more uniform mulch layer. An easy mower to rake leaves with is a bagged lawn mower. Or shred them with a leaf shredder or slit them by dropping the leaves in a large bucket and using a string trimmer.

#2 Applying Leaf Mulch in the Garden

Your leaves are cut up, now you’re ready to spit them out as mulch.

Layer 2 to 4 inches of leaf mulch around your beds, trees and shrubs. You don’t want to stack mulch right up against the bottom of plants because that will hold water and cause rot. Apply mulch 1/8th inch away from stems and trunks so air circulates.

Shredded leaf mulch can double as winter protection and an organic compost in vegetable gardens. You can then till the decayed leaves into the soil in the spring to enrich it even more before sowing new crops.

#3 Use Leaves as Winter Mulch

In the winter time, leaf mulch comes in handy.

Leaf mulch insulated the soil from harsh freeze-thaw cycles. This is especially true of tender perennials and new shrubs. Leaves disintegrate in the winter and feed the soil, which will help plant health for the next season.

Another Option

You could also make leaf mold (the slow-releasing kind of leaf mulch that is especially good for your soil structure) if you have extra leaves left over.

You just put your cut leaves into a compost bin or heap, leave them wet, and let them rot away over the course of months to years. The outcome is a dark, hardy, but highly nutritious soil amendment that retains water and encourages microbiota in your beds.

Tips for Success

• Don’t Use Diseased Leaves: When your leaves have symptoms of disease or insects, remove them so you don’t spread pathogens into your yard.
• Mix Leaf Mulch with Other Things: Blend shredded leaves with grass clippings or other natural mulch materials for a mixed bag.
• Keep Track of Mulch Thickness: Mulch is too dense and makes it dry. Limit it to 2-4 inches of coverage for best results.

Using fall leaves as DIY mulch is an environmentally conscious, time and money saving way to give your garden some slack.

So, don’t bag those leaves up and save them for the bins, use them instead — your garden will be glad for the better health you’ll bring to it!