Are you cleaning up leaves and branches this fall? Here are frugal and eco-friendly ways to use autumn yard debris.
When fall hits, you probably know that this often means lots of cleanup that needs to be done to prepare your lawn and garden for the cooler weather. While there are many communities that offer programs to help you get rid of it, why not use some of it to help cut your own costs and live more sustainable? Here are some ways to use that yard debris you have in a frugal way.
9 Ways to Use Autumn Yard Waste
So much of your yard waste can be recycled into your yard and reusing yard debris will provide free nutrients for your lawn, flower beds, and vegetable garden.
Use Leaves to Insulate Flower Beds
As you rake up leaves this fall, add them to your flower beds to act as a natural insulator. Gather up leaves and place around your plants this fall. This will not only provide insulation to protect the plants in the colder months, but also provide natural nutrients as the leaves break down.
Use lawn Clippings as Lawn Fertilizer
Some people call this “grasscycling”. Rather than bagging grass clippings, recycle the cut grass. If there are any large clips of grass clippings, rake them across your lawn to provide protection from cooler weather and add natural minerals. Leaving lawn clippings on the lawn acts as a natural fertilizer, returning valuable nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil, which will reduce your need to use fertilizer in the spring. Grass clippings also add organic matter as they filter down to the ground and decompose, which helps retain soil moisture and improves soil health over time.
Use Leaves as a Natural Lawn Fertilizer
Instead of bagging your leaves, mulch them into small pieces with a lawn mower. Leave the mulched leaves on the lawn where they will decompose and add organic matter and nutrients to the soil. Like grass clippings, leaf mulch can improve soil structure, help soil retain moisture, and can reduce the need for fertilizers. If you have a thick layer of leaf mulch, use a rake to evenly distribute it over your lawn.
Start a Compost Pile
Add natural things like leaves to your compost pile to make nutrient rich soil for use in the Spring. It is best to alternative layers of dry tree leaves with other plant matter. I usually alternating plant material from my vegetable garden with the leaves. If you don’t have a compost pile yet, now is a great time to start one since you will have lots of material to work with. Here is Easy Tips for Starting a Compost Pile.
Consider Making Leaf Mold
This is done by gathering leaves and placing them in bins or plastic bags and keeping them wet. Mushrooms and other types of fungi will grow, break down the material and in a couple years, you will have the best soil ever to plant with! Here are more tips on Making Leaf Mold to Use in Organic Gardening.
Add Yard Waste to Raised Garden Beds
Get a jump start on your spring garden and fill the bottom of raised garden beds with branches then cover the branches with a mix of soil and compost. This not only saves on the amount of soil you must use, but improves the soil. Over time the twigs and branches will break down, releasing nutrients into the soil.
Branches Make great Kindling
We use branches for kindling in our fireplace and our firepit. They burn cleaner than newspaper. Just cut the branches up, bundle them and place them somewhere where they will not get ruined by the weather. We store our cut up branches in a large trashcan outside the back door, so when we need to start a fire, we have plenty of kindling on hand.
Chop Your Own Firewood
Large branches and logs can be chopped up and turned into firewood. Just keep in mind, that you don’t want to burn new wood. A tree trunk needs to be seasoned (dried) before it can be used as firewood. It can take anywhere from six months to a year for softwoods, and up to two years or more for dense hardwoods like oak. Even though the drying time is lengthy, if you use a fireplace or wood stove, it can save you money to cut your own firewood.
Use Leaves as Temporary Insulation
Using dry leaves in bags can provide temporary insulation for sheds, garages, greenhouses, or the foundation of a home to block wind and cold. However, this should only be a temporary solution. It’s not recommended as a long-term solution due to potential issues such as mold, vermin, and an increased fire hazard.
Use in DIY projects.
There are so many ways that you can do using natural materials in your garden. From trellises, to garden edging, to fencing; if you have branches,, there are any number of ways to use them in your garden. Here are 30 Creative Garden Projects Using Sticks and Twigs to inspire you.
What are some ways you use yard debris?
More Fall Gardening Tips
Growing Tips for Chrysanthemums
How to Collect Vegetable Seeds
How to Grow More in Your Square Foot Garden with Succession Gardening
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