Fall leaves tend to fall this time of year, are you doing with them? Most folks will bag them, take the bag to the curb and let the city (pick one) take them away to destinations unknown. What they really do is make compost out of them to save room in the landfill. A noble endeavor to be sure but, you can save some of the bagging and trips to the curb if you reuse what Mother Nature has provided. This is not an effort to undermine a city’s recycling programs. This is an effort to make use of the resources that we have available. All that is required is a small amount of your energy and a mulching mower. The mulching mower is kind of critical considering it can take whole leaves as long as 2 years to decompose.

If it sounds like I’m asking everyone to start a compost pile, I’m not. But if composting looks like a good idea, then, by all means, start composting. What I’m talking about is using the fall leaves for something other than city compost. Once leaves have been mulched they make a fantastic soil amendment. For bare areas in the lawn, work 4 or 5 inches of mulched leaves into the soil with a little molasse or high nitrogen fertilizer. Then, cover the area with another 4 to 5 inches of mulched leaves. Come spring it will be ready for seed or sod. 4 – 6 inches of mulched leaves also work well as a pathway material and for frost protection in gardens. When preparing the garden for the next crop, just turn (or till) the pathway into the soil. Need some good organic material in the annual color bed or extra mulch in a flower bed? You guessed it, mulched leaves.

If you have 2 red oaks in the front yard and two Chinese Pistache in the back yard then you will have lots of leaves in lots of bags. But if you try reusing the fallen leaves, then maybe you will have 6 bags instead of 10.

Just a reminder about fall pre-emergent herbicides for weed control. Now is the time to apply. These herbicides do one thing and one thing only, they kill seeds. We apply in the spring and fall because that’s when we get the best bang for our buck. I try for the first two weeks in September. If you plan on overseeding the lawn with ryegrass, do not apply pre-emergent.

Pre-emergent herbicides are available in both synthetic and all-natural forms. On the synthetic side is “Turf & Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper”. That won’t fit on our receipts so we call it “Dimension”. Dimension targets the grassy weeds and is available in a 12lb bag that covers 3,500 square feet and 30lb bag that covers 10,000 square feet. “Gallery” zeros in on the broadleaf weeds and it’s available in a 10lb bag that will cover 2,000 square feet.

The all-natural is “corn gluten meal”. It’s available in powder and granulated in a 40lb bag. The powder activates faster but is a mess to apply. The granulated is slower to activate but is considerably less of a mess. Each bag will cover 2,000 square feet. As always read and follow the label directions. Click here for more about weed control.

Pick up fall pre-emergent herbicide and fall fertilizer at Wells Brothers, Pet, Lawn, and Garden Center in Plano, Texas