Fall is the perfect time to practice good composting and mulching practices for your trees and plant beds and to start a compost system to create black gold for your spring garden. Instead of raking leaves to the curb, allow fallen leaves to feed your trees, enrich the soil and provide overwinter protection for roots and habitat for insects. Extension Master Gardener Nina DeRosa discusses where to compost, what to compost and what not to compost, and how to manage your compost system.
Speaker: Nina DeRosa, Extension Master Gardener
Zoom session, October 7, 2022
Video of Presentation
Chapter Breaks & Captions coming soon!
Recommended Online Resources
- “Benefits of Leaf Mulch.” Cornell University
http://monroe.cce.cornell.edu/resources/benefits-of-leaf-mulching - “Homemade Potting Mix.” 2021. University of Florida Extension.
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn-and-garden/homemade-potting-mix/ - “Mulch Volcanoes Kill!” International Society of Arboriculture.
https://www.maine.gov/dacf/php/pesticides/documents2/master%20gardeners/mulch_volcano.pdf - “Volcano Mulching.” Richmond Tree Stewards.
http://richmondtreestewards.org/education/threats-to-trees/volcano-mulching - Bydyk, Emily. 2012. “Life in the Fallen Leaves.” 2012. Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Vol 17, Issue 3, Fall 2012.
https://loudounwildlife.org/2012/10/life-in-the-fallen-leaves/ - Finneran, Rebecca. 2013. “Mulch leaves into turf for a smart lawn.” Michigan State University Extension
https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/files/Mulch_fallen_leavesRS.pdf - Goatley, Michael. 2020, “Leave Them Alone: Lawn Leaf Management.” Virginia Tech
https://mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/LeaveThemAloneLawnLeafManagement.pdf - Jeffers, Andrew. 2019. “What to do with all the leaves?” Home & Garden Information Center. Clemson University Extension.
https://hgic.clemson.edu/what-to-do-with-all-the-leaves/ - Johnson, Elizabeth A., Catley, Kefyn M., and Wynne, Patricia J. 2002. Life in the Leaf Litter. Center for Biodiversity & Conservation.
https://www.amnh.org/content/download/35188/518925/file/LifeInTheLeafLitter.pdf - Kluepfel, Marjan, et. al. 2016. “Mulch.” Home & Garden Information Center. Clemson University Extension.
https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/mulch/ - Starbuck, Christopher. “Mulches.” University of Missouri Extension.
https://extension.Missouri.edu/publications/g6960 - Starbuck, Christopher. Making and Using Compost, University of Missouri Extension.
https://extension.Missouri.edu/g6956#methods - Travis, Mike. “Leaf Mold Compost.” University of Wisconsin Extension – Pepin County
https://pepin.extension.wisc.edu/files/2017/08/170801-Leaf-Mold.pdf