Much to Debate About Fallen Leaves and Mulch

With so many leaves and pine needles falling from trees this time of year, homeowners will soon be cleaning up the yard and discarding all the fallen debris.  The most common practice throughout the years has been to rake up leaves into a pile and burn them.   Some homeowners will just haul them off and dump them somewhere in the woods. Urbanized homeowners will take it a step further and bag them up and place them by the curb to be picked up by garbage trucks. While these three practices may seem quite logical, they are in fact the absolute worse ways of discarding valuable organic matter.  Instead, why not keep it and use it to one’s advantage.  

Let’s start with why trees shed their leaves and needles.  Each fall, trees shed their leaves and needles and cover the ground around them.  In a forest setting, this leftover organic matter is slowly broken down into new and rich soil.  Not only does this organic matter and new soil contain nutrients that the trees and other plants re-use, but it also protects and insulates plant roots, prevents soil erosion, buffers competition, and conserves moisture. 

"If you’ll notice, soil is very dark, crumbly and soft under an old pile of leaves," says Dr. Charles Mitchell, Extension Agronomist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.  "Earthworms are plentiful and the soil is rich in decomposing organic matter. This is Mother Nature giving us a hint on the benefits of mulch gardening.”

So if all this natural organic matter is good for the soil and our plants, why do we want to get rid of it?  Good question.  In the fall, we rake up all this organic matter and burn it or throw it away. Yet come spring, we go buy bags and bales of mulch and compost to put back on and around our plants.   Confused?  So am I! 

Here is bright idea. Instead of buying pine straw bales for mulch, just rake up what is free and available in your yard and put it around your plants.  Instead of raking up and discarding all the fallen leaves, just keep them under the trees or blow or rake them under other plants.  More free mulch and its natural!   Now that is logical and saves money too!

The bottom line is to leave all the fallen organic matter in the yard on the soil surface or put it to good and logical use in the form of mulch around plants.  It only makes sense.

"And, at the same time," Mitchell says, "that hard-packed mineral soil beneath that mulch is being transformed into a soil any organic gardener would love."  Of course, your plants and your wallet will love it too. 

Master Gardener 2007

The Tallapoosa County Extension office is currently accepting applications for the 2007 Master Gardener Course.  The proposed master gardener course would begin February 2nd and be held every Friday for about 12-14 straight weeks at the Tallapoosa County Courthouse in Dadeville. The course would end in late April.  Many horticulture topics, everything from fertilizer to bugs to lawn care to fruits and more will be discussed. The cost is $100, which is used to cover the expenses for two catered meals, weekly refreshments, publication and course handbooks, paper supplies, etc. 

If you are interested in taking the Master Gardener course, then please contact us at the Tallapoosa County Extension office.  Applications, additional course information, and answers to all your questions can all be obtained by calling at 256-825-1050 or visiting us online at www.aces.edu/Tallapoosa.