5 Eco-Friendly Ways to Make Use of Autumn Leaves

If you live in an area with deciduous trees, you can make use of the fallen leaves by using them as mulch or compost. You can also rake them up and use them as decoration in your yard or home. There are many ways to make use of autumn leaves, so get creative!

When I think of Autumn, rich reds, bright yellows and robust orange leaves come to mind. Although beautiful, autumn leaves can become a hassle to clean up. Instead of throwing the leaves in the trash, rather make the most of them – help your garden grow or beautify your home. Autumn leaves can become your ally and you’ll soon start to appreciate what they can do for you in the long run. In this post, we focus on five different eco-friendly ways to recycle Autumn leaves, from composting to mulching and more.

COMPOST

Compost is a gardener’s best friend – it helps keep your plants lush and beautiful by providing a huge nutrient boost for your plants. At its most basic, compost is simply decaying organic matter. But instead of shelling out a goodly sum for a few bags at your local nursery, try making your own!

Over winter, most home composters gradually lose their balance of nitrogen and carbon. Kitchen scraps, high in nitrogen, are added regularly all through the winter. But carbon-based materials are less plentiful in winter. When the compost gets out of balance, the composting process slows down as the materials settle, losing aeration, until the compost becomes cool and soggy. Leaves are an easy available source of carbon for your compost. By adding leaves gradually, you’ll avoid having them clump and mat together which slows down their decomposition. If you want to add a lot of leaves to lighten a soggy compost pile, then turn them in with a spade or so the leaves don’t mat together. Shredding your leaves first will help them break down quicker in your compost pile – this can be as simple as running over them with your lawn mower. After about two months, it should resemble dark soil and have a pungent and earthy aroma, letting you know it’s ready for your garden.

MULCH

It’s easy to confuse mulch with compost, and many people do. Whilst compost gets mixed in to help enrich your garden’s soil, mulch is primarily used as a layer on top, like a blanket for insulation purposes, and to retain moisture and reduce the growth of pesky weeds. Leaves are ideal as winter mulch because they are light and fluffy, which adds insulation value, whereas heavier mulches compress and become soggy, providing less warmth.

If you have ‘over-winter’ crops in the garden, it is even more important to mulch to keep the soil surface from freezing in cold snaps and to avoid frost damage to the ‘shoulders’ of root crops. If carrots, beets and other roots vegetables are damaged by frost, the rot starts in the damaged areas but soon spreads to the rest of the roots. Spreading fistfuls of leaves on top of your veggie and flower beds helps to keep the roots happy! Once the mulch starts decomposing into compost, it needs to be replaced with a new layer.

TINDER

Fireplaces can be lovely for those nippy Autumn evenings. Instead of using firelighters to get a blaze going, try the eco-friendly route and make your own tinder from Autumn leaves. When raking up your leaves, put them in an airy bag and store them in a dry and cool place. Once they have dried out, take a handful each time you want to start a fire, it being a convenient and eco-friendly alternative to firelighters. The burning leaves will add a fragrant aroma to your home; an added benefit.

AUTUMN WREATH

Add some colour and warmth to your interior with a beautiful home-made wreath from your discarded leaves. Real leaves are environmentally friendly and come in a vibrant palette of colours. This is also a great way to entertain your kids – letting them hunt for the best specimens not only lets them enjoy being outdoors before the real winter weather sets in, but also gives them a fun and creative project to do indoors when it does.

Make sure you have a base to work with – a wicker ring is perfect for this kind of project. You’ll need a glue gun and some choice twigs and seed pods which you’ll space out however you like, using different colours for a great visual effect. Attach the finished product to your door or over your mantelpiece to bring some beauty from your garden into your home.

POTPOURRI

Add a gentle, natural scent to your home with DIY potpourri. The smell of dried leaves adds a fragrant dimension to the rooms in your house. Make sure your leaves are completely dry before crumbling them up into natural, mesh bags, and add a cinnamon stick and some cloves for a spicy Autumn aroma.

You can house your potpourri in a decorative wooden bowl or tied in a small fabric sachet in your cupboard to make your clothes smell fabulous.

What are some of the ways you like to use your leftover leaves? I’d love to hear all about it!

Happy Autumn gardening everyone!

Fabulous fynbos, a unique world of the most awesome flora.

Fynbos, often perceived as rugged and dull by casual observers, is, in fact, a realm of remarkable diversity. This is especially true regarding colour, shapes, and textures, surpassing many other plant kingdoms in this regard. A Unique World of...

Spring has Sprung

Spring has officially sprung, and now is the time of the year to get stuck into your garden, particularly in adding new flora to your garden. This article will cover what you should be doing in your garden over the next two months as well as some...

How To Build A Fire Pit In Your Garden

KEEP WARM AND COSY THIS WINTER with your own fire pit With all the cold, rain and freezing temperatures of winter, you might find it challenging to stay warm. This is especially true if you still want to use and enjoy your garden space. A fire pit...

Thorny Bougainvillea- The One & Only Climbing Beauty

Bougainvillea, the flowering vine of colourful beauty! Did you know that the French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville discovered this bright plant, now called the Bougainvillea, during his voyages in South America in 1768? Excerpt: One of the...

Architectural Plants

Today’s blog is list of plants, shrubs and trees which can be used as architectural form plants to create an eye catching piece in your garden. By adding a couple of carefully chosen plants, trees and shrubs one can go far to increasing the appeal...

Butterflies in the Garden

Everyone is charmed by butterflies! They represent metamorphosis, and hope through change and are symbolic of the life cycle of all living things. Some are brilliantly patterned and coloured with kaleidoscopic markings. Others are a little more...

Lights in the Garden – How To Let Your Garden Shine!

Who wouldn’t want to follow the path of lights in the garden into the cool night air? So you’ve spent hours perfecting your garden. Perhaps you had help from a professional garden design company to create the perfect garden. You considered the most...

How To Attract Garden Birds Using Feeders & Other Tricks

Love your Garden Birds? We love birds too! Here at Cape Contours Landscaping, we are thinking about our feathered friends who add much life and joy to our gardens. As much as March and April are excellent months to do Autumn Garden Maintenance, it...

Ultimate How-to Guide For Companion Planting in the Garden

What is companion planting in the garden? It’s now a well-known fact that certain plants grow better when planted near each other. The saying "Better Together" applies to specific combinations of plants planted close to each other. We can even...

Child Safety in The Garden

What fun!! Never, however, leave your baby unattended while playing in the water! Every year, many children are rushed to the hospital due to accidents that occur in the home and garden. Checking your garden is safe for the littlest members of your...

Let’s plan your project together!

We plan, install and maintain award-winning landscapes for our commercial clients and project partners. Clients who wish to add function, value and inspiration to their outdoor spaces and properties.

Our roots are in Cape Town, but our footprint stretches deep into southern Africa.

CLAIM YOUR FREE CONSULTATION NOW

+27 (0) 21 788 1202

tenders@contoursgroup.co.za

Unit 2 Lakeside Place Capricorn Business Park, Muizenberg, Cape Town, 7945

Let’s plan your landscaping project together!

We plan, install and maintain award-winning landscapes for our commercial clients and project partners. Clients who wish to add function, value and inspiration to their outdoor spaces and properties.

Our roots are in Cape Town, but our footprint stretches deep into southern Africa.