Tag: leaf harvest
Don’t just let your leaves fall. Give them a new life!
By Erica Timm
One of my favorite things about autumn is the explosion of fall color along our city streets that seems to make every walk a natural artistic adventure. While the leaf color change is surely a benefit of trees, the leaves eventually fall off the trees and can sometimes seem more of a burden than a benefit. In hopes of inspiring myself (and others) to embrace the falling leaves, and transition discarded leaves into a productive new path, I’ve compiled this list of ways to give your fallen leaves a new life.
Mulch with leaves
Leaves can be used as an alternative to commercial mulches. Leaves tend to break down quicker than courser mulch material, which means your soil gleans the nutrients more quickly, creating a richer soil.
If you are mulching your entire yard, the leaves can simply be left where they fall and mowed over to discourage matting and enable the leaves to break down more quickly. Another option is to rake the leaves into a pile and then spread them over the areas to be mulched. If the leaves are large, a shovel can be used to chop them up into smaller pieces before spreading.
The joys of mulching
What grows on trees that makes your soil richer, minimizes weed growth, and reduces the amount of water you use? Leaves!
On our new web site, the Portland Leaf Harvest, you’ll find resources and tips for how to make and/or use mulch after the leaves fall from your trees. In addition, you’ll find guidance for composting leaves with kitchen scraps and best practices if you live in one of Portland’s areas where tree cover is abundant and residents can rake their leaves into the street for city pick-up.
From leaves to compost – and beyond
Ever wonder what happens to the leaves you haul to depots or rake into the street for a city of Portland pickup (if you live in a Leaf Zone)?
On a sunny fall day, Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Jill Jacobsen gave Friends of Trees staff a tour of the Sunderland Recycling Facility and what remained of the compost made from last fall’s leaf harvest. Last year Sunderland received 11,505 cubic yards of leaves and made nearly 4,000 cubic yards of compost.
The 2011 Leaf Harvest
By Brighton West
It’s that time of year again when nature turns our trees into an amazing artist’s palette, then drops the leaves to let the winter sun through. What a gift from nature—sun and nutrients needed by our spring flowers.
Friends of Trees will launch a new website on November 1: www.PortlandLeafHarvest.com. The web site will help you harvest your leaves in many different ways. You can leave them in your garden beds, put them in your compost bin, place them in your yard waste bin, and in certain areas—Portland’s Leaf Districts—just rake them into the street for the city to scoop up.
Residents of Portland’s Leaf Districts are billed $15 to $30 because the city needs to spend extra time clearing the streets in these well-canopied neighborhoods. It’s a great deal if you have a lot of leaves and you don’t want to keep them on site. Click here to see if you are lucky enough to be in a Leaf District.
–West is Program Director for Friends of Trees.