Composting Fall Leaves

The gold, crimson and burgundy leaves of autumn are a pleasure to see atop trees. But when they fall to the ground, they can be a pain to rake and bag up. On the bright side, fall leaves are great for composting, adding rich nutrients to your garden's soil.

While it's tempting to think that the leaves will naturally compost themselves, it's crucial that you control this process so that they don't grow mold or suffocate existing vegetation. There is no way around it, you'll need to rake up all those leaves. The good news is that all that hard work will show itself in rich compost that can be added back to your garden.

Annette Pelliccio is a national speaker and book contributor on the topic of composting and the founder of The Happy Gardener. She explained to me the benefits of adding all these fallen leaves to your home compost.

Annette tells us that the brown material provides carbon and green material provides nitrogen. Both are important to the composting process and their balance is essential.

All of the fallen leaves (brown material) will give a perfect carbon balance to the nitrogen-rich green matter that you added this Summer. Annette says "T he time of year for leaves will determine what it brings to the compost."