Raking leaves on a day when you’d rather be doing anything else is tough – but the chore is done more easily, if you keep in mind that those fall leaves can be put to good use in other areas of your Silver Spring, MD landscaping.

Leaves are an important natural deposit due to the fact that they include 50 to 80 percent of the nutrients a plant extracts from the soil and air throughout the season. It’d be a shame to bag all those nutrients up and send them to a landfill.

Here are some methods to manage and use your fall leaves to benefit the landscaping of your Silver Spring MD home.

Trimming: if you’ve just got a light covering of leaves and you have a mulching lawn mower, you can leave the shredded leaves on the turf.

Mulching: is easy and reliable, utilizing your lawnmower with a bagging accessory to gather and shred the leaves. Take the shredded leaf mulch, and disperse it throughout your landscape. A 3 to 6 inch layer of shredded leaves around the base of trees and shrubs will work well enough – don’t go overboard, though – too much mulch will rot or mildew. With yearly and seasonal flower beds, a 2 to 3 inch mulch of shredded leaves is finest.

Improving soil: utilizing a till, work a 6-8 inch layer of leaves straight into the garden and flower beds. This will enhance the aeration of a clay soil, and will assist light sandy soil with maintaining water and nutrients.

Composting: with or without a bin, you can produce abundant composting for your landscape. You’ll have to layer 6-8 inches of leaves, then include an inch layer of soil, then spray some fertilizer. Repeat these actions and keep the garden compost moist.

For more info on landscaping in Silver Spring MD, please contact East Coast Landscape Design. For over 30 years, East Coast Landscape Design has actually been Silver Spring, MD’s leading certified landscape specialist.