Time to Make Treasure for the Garden: Compost

By Bill Primavera

When it’s that time of year where tree leaves are turning red, brown and gold and falling to the ground, I never think of the onerous task that property owners face in raking them up, but rather the joy of turning them into rich compost for the garden.

How many chores in life offer such rich double-duty rewards as tidying up and enrichment at the same time? Composting would certainly top the list.

In almost 50 years of gardening, I never once bought fertilizer, but rather made my own through composting. Its many benefits make lengthy leaf cleanup well worth the effort.

For creating more plant nutrients, along with pest and disease control, composting is the way to go. Here are two ways to compost leaves.

To compost dry leaves in a bin or pile, first shred the leaves with a mower, which helps to break them down, and catch them in the mower bag. Then, pile the shredded leaves in a compost bin, or simply a pile in the corner of the yard. Top the leaves with a nitrogen-rich material, such as grass clippings or food waste.

Build the pile up until it’s three feet tall and wide, alternating between leaves and the nitrogen products. A good rule of thumb is to use four parts of leaves per one part of nitrogen materials.

Turn the compost with a pitchfork once a month, until the compost process stops because of the dropping temperatures.

When turning the compost, if it smells rotten or looks soggy, dry it out by adding additional ingredients such as more leaves or sawdust.

Continue turning and moisture-monitoring the compost until it’s ready. Finished compost is dark in color, dry and crumbly in texture, and smells earthy (I really love that smell, odd as it may seem). If you continually turn the pile, you can have compost as soon as a couple of months, but depending on conditions, it may take as much as a year, in which case patience is required.

Another way to compost leaves is a quicker process. Turn the pile every week or two rather than monthly, keeping its contents moist by watering, but not too much.  A pile too dry or too damp will take more time. 

Knowing what NOT to compost is as important as knowing which materials are right to use. Do not compost meat, bones or fish scraps (they will attract pests) unless you are using a composter designed specifically for this purpose. Avoid composting perennial weeds or diseased plants, since you might spread weed seeds or diseases when spreading your compost. And don’t include pet manure in compost that will be used on food crops.

Also, banana peels, peach peels and orange rinds may contain pesticide residue and should be kept out of the compost. Black walnut leaves also should not be composted. Some people add sawdust to the compost, but it should be mixed or scattered thinly to avoid clumping.

An important step is to cover the compost bin or pile with plastic to help retain moisture.

There is also a non-turn alternative to composting. The secret to aerating without turning is to thoroughly mix in enough coarse material, such as straw, when building the pile. The compost will develop as fast as if it were turned regularly, and studies show that the nitrogen level may be even higher than with turned compost.

With no-turn composting, add new materials to the top of the pile and harvest fresh compost from the bottom of the bin. This method qualifies for my lazy gardener category. After all, if it’s possible to enjoy the pleasures of gardening and composting in a way that requires less physical strain on the back and knees, why not?

Bill Primavera is a residential and commercial realtor associated with William Raveis Realty, as well as a publicist and journalist writing regularly as The Home Guru. For questions about home maintenance or to buy or sell a home, he can be e-mailed at williamjprimavera@gmail.com or called directly at 914-522-2076.

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