What to do with fallen leaves in the fall. What to do with fallen leaves on the site. Aerobic compost from autumn leaves

Bring back our leaves! - say local residents.
- Stop cutting the budget. Previously, the leaves were not removed, but now suddenly they began to bother someone!

Every year, at the end of October - beginning of November, Moscow street cleaners have seasonal work- cleaning lawns from fallen leaves. Many residents wonder: Is it worth removing leaves at all? What to do with them? Take it out? Where to put these huge piles of leaves - burn them, dump them in the forest, store them in compost heaps, mulch beds and flower beds with them, or even bury them? Leave it on the grass to rot as fertilizer?

1. Proponents of organic farming do not agree that lawns need cleaning in the fall. Fallen leaves protect tree roots from cold weather and, when decomposed, improve the soil structure and composition.

Foliage is not only an excellent fertilizer, but also serves as excellent food for earthworms and beneficial microorganisms, which improve the structure of the soil through their activities.

Adherents of classical cleaning advise thoroughly cleaning the area from fallen leaves, because fallen leaves are an excellent wintering place for numerous garden insect pests, which successfully overwinter in a warm, secluded place. Also, fallen leaves are a breeding ground for many pathogens and fungi, especially if the trees were affected by various diseases during the season.

2. From my school memories, I remember very well labor lessons, when in the fall we worked - we picked up a rake with a stretcher and cleared the entire school territory of leaves. Labor makes a person, Trudovik told us. True, in our years the foliage was not stuffed into plastic bags, but was immediately taken to the trash container.

3. Foliage is different from foliage. As children, we all fooled around with fallen leaves, threw them, kicked them around and buried botanists in them. But this only applied to fresh foliage. After the snow melted in the spring, few people were in a hurry to play with the leaves that had lain there all winter.

4. I read several articles on the Internet on this issue. There are both pros and cons to leaf removal. Here everything is explained quite well using the example of a city, not summer cottage: Cleaning up fallen leaves in the city. Do they need to be removed?

5. There is no single answer to this question, since the removal of leaves must be approached individually for each green space object, taking into account the classes and categories of purpose and placement in urban development. After all, there is big difference between the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin and Losiny Island.

6. I was wondering how things are with foliage in Germany, where my old friend lives. It turns out that in all public places (boulevards, squares, courtyards and small parks) leaves are collected from lawns every year, and it has always been this way. No one has any questions about this.

7. Where is our foliage taken? It is sent by truck to landfill sites near Moscow intended for solid household waste. At these landfills, the leaves are simply compacted in holes and covered with soil: after some time, the rotted leaves turn into soil.

10. What you shouldn’t do at all is burn the leaves. In the smoke of fallen leaves is high content compounds of lead, mercury and others heavy metals.

11. Leaves were always removed, it’s just that before there were piles of leaves that children happily kicked and which were carried by the wind. Today it's plastic bags.

12. Children's playground with natural surface.

13. Children's playground after cleaning.

14. Do you think it is necessary to remove leaves from lawns, or is it better to leave them as they are and spend the budget money “better”?

The autumn leaf is so elegant..., but it must be removed from the garden and there is no alternative to this technique in preparing a summer house or local area for next spring. This technique is necessary, since in the space limited by the fence there is a natural accumulation of negative microflora in the form of various fungal, bacterial and other diseases, and pests that overwinter in comfortable conditions in the form of pupae, larvae, spores, adults, etc. At the same time, according to the laws of nature, everything that is removed from the soil must be returned to it. Otherwise, within a few years the soil will become sandier and its natural (and effective) fertility will decrease, when mineral fertilizers will no longer be as effective as they were several years ago.

How can this be? You just need to economically dispose of the “manna from heaven” that fell from heaven.

Making compost from autumn leaves

To prepare compost from autumn leaves on the site, you need to make several compost pits (pits - symbol, since it could just be a place, a box, a bag, etc.):

• for aerobic rapid composting,
• for anaerobic, longer fermentation, but also of higher quality in composition,
• humus pit for maturing manure and other animal and plant waste,
• sick waste pit,
• waste incineration site.

In your garden first aid kit, you should definitely purchase and prepare working solutions of preparations of living effective beneficial soil microhabitats. These are the drugs “Baikal EM-1”, “Ekomik Harozhny”, “Shine” and others. They destroy pathogenic soil microflora and at the same time promote the processing of organic matter into humus compounds.

If there are no EM preparations, you can use tank mixtures of biofungicides and bioinsecticides:

• Gamair + phytosporin + gaupsin,
• phytosporin + gamair + alirin,
• baktofit, trichodermin
• mikosan + phytosporin + boverin or bicol.

Biofungicides can be used in tank mixtures with bioinsecticides (haupsin, bicol, boverin, verticillin and others). Before preparing tank mixtures, be sure to check the preparations for compatibility. They effectively destroy infectious microflora and pests (at different stages of development). The resulting organic matter will be free from pathogenic infections and pests.

The pits do not have to be huge, but the finished product must be used as organic fertilizer vegetable garden and berry garden plot. During the summer, each of the pits is filled with appropriate waste.

Aerobic compost from autumn leaves

For aerobic compost, air drainage is prepared onto the soil surface from large branches (from spring pruning), wood chips, poles and other waste. By prying up the drainage layer with a pitchfork, they increase the access of oxygen to plant residues and accelerate their fermentation or rotting. Vegetable components for fermentation are poured on top in layers. These are usually young weeds, leaves of tree crops, post-harvest tops, lawn clippings and other light waste. Layer 15-20 cm, pour a couple of shovels of earth with a working solution of EM preparations (any). Add the next layer. The heap will gradually increase and after 1.5-2.0 months it is ready to be transferred to vegetable beds.

Quick compost from autumn leaves

Experts working with EO preparations suggest preparing 3-day compost for the beds. It is suitable for processing autumn leaves.

A pile prepared in the manner described above, where it is folded in layers autumn leaves and tops (healthy) from garden beds, mowed grass from lawns, watered hot water at +80ºС, after 5-6 hours add the working solution of Effective microflora (EM). The pile is stirred slightly. The burt “lights up”. After 2 days, water again with sufficient quantity and lightly turn the pile. After 3-4 days, the EM solution is spilled again and this EM compost (“green” unripe) is transferred to the beds for digging. During the warm period, especially in the south and in warm areas middle zone(September - October), the foliage in the soil treated with the EM preparation will completely rot and by spring the soil will be light and fluffy. It is lightly raked from the soil crust and when optimal temperature begin sowing or planting.

Anaerobic compost from autumn leaves

A hole 40-50 cm deep is prepared for anaerobic compost. Crushed organic matter (weeds, tops, other waste) and the same autumn leaves are laid in 15-20 cm layers. A 3-5 cm layer of soil is poured between the layers of organic matter. Each soil layer is slightly moistened with water, then watered with a working solution of any EM preparation. The total humidity of the compost heap is 50-60%. All components are carefully compacted to limit the access of oxygen. In such a heap the temperature should be kept at +25..+30ºС. If the temperature rise is rapid and higher, the pile is wetted. After compaction, the pile is covered plastic film and even sprinkled with a layer of grass. Fermentation lasts from 3 to 5 months (not years), and “green” compost can be added to the soil after 3-4-5 weeks. The disadvantage of “green” compost is the large amount of silage, which makes soil cultivation difficult, but in such compost it remains huge amount nutrients, anaerobic EM microflora develops better, which will process roots and other organic residues deep in the soil into humus.

Manure storage facilities

Almost every dacha has a place to store manure and chicken droppings. Usually this is a shallow hole so that the slurry does not spread throughout the garden and supply food to nearby growing weeds. The bottom is covered with roofing felt or several layers of film to preserve slurry. A box made of any materials (wood, plastic, remnants of slate, etc.) is knocked down and installed around it. The manure rots within 2–3 years and is applied to crops that are responsive to the application of rotted manure. To increase the organic component of the soil, once every 4-5-6 years unrotted manure is applied to the garden beds and incorporated into the soil. If there is no manure, composts are used. The application of manure can be combined with digging up autumn leaves scattered over the beds from under fruit and forest trees.

Destruction and disposal of diseased tops, carrion and leaf litter

The owner of a dacha or private property can act in his own way regarding diseased tops and fallen leaves. Burn it immediately (in case of viral infection, it is necessary) or put it in a separate hole for 2-3 years at the end of the plot (away from the garden).

The burning area should be in one place so as not to burn the soil in a new area every year: when burning, not only diseases and pests are killed, but also beneficial microflora, beneficial soil inhabitants (worms, etc.).

In organic farming, a pit for infected garden tops and leaf litter is a must. Ash from burnt leaves and tops is not as useful (although it contains a large set of microelements) as organic matter. And returning it to the soil is the first law of geoscience: as much as you take, return as much.

Carrion infected with fungal, bacterial and other diseases, autumn leaves, tops of tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, potatoes, onions and other vegetable and garden crops are placed in the pit. Interspersed with a thin layer of soil. Literally 2-3 shovels per 10 cm layer of waste. Each layer is spilled with a working solution of EM preparations increased concentration(see recommendations), add biofungicides and bioinsecticides. The embedded components are heated to +80ºС. Ferment for 1.5-2-3 years, constantly maintaining high temperature and adding solutions of EM drugs. This biocompost can also be used for trees and shrubs or lawn grass.

If the garden consists of 8-10, or even more trees, and 1-2 trees still grow walnuts, plus a berry garden and a lawn, then naturally it will be difficult to place all the foliage in compost heaps. What to do?

How to completely clear the garden of fallen leaves?

You can do this as follows:

• If the foliage is healthy and the soil under the trees is not tinned, it can be treated on site with a tank mixture of biological products. Leave for 1-2 weeks or treat with medications for 2-3 weeks in a row, stirring each time. Tedding will prevent the foliage from caking, and increased air flow will promote better overheating. These processed leaf wastes in late autumn (preferably early spring after the snow melts) embed into the soil by shallow digging or hoeing. They will first serve as a good mulch, and then as an organic fertilizer.
• Collect leaves with a rake, mower, leaf blower or garden vacuum cleaner with a leaf shredder and spread them over the beds and dig them up.

From personal experience.

For many years I have not been able to use organic fertilizers in my dacha. Every year, during the autumn digging, I dig up the first row of the bed, put leaf litter, small weeds, and garden tops into the resulting groove and add soil from the next row. And so on throughout the garden bed. By spring everything is rotting. I remove the soil crust with a rake and after the onset of stable heat I plant and sow garden crops. After a year I use biocompost. I bring in a bucket per square meter. m area.

Trees usually shed their leaves gradually and autumn cleaning is not enough. By spring, a sufficient amount of foliage, compacted under the snow, accumulates in the beds under the trees and on the paths. I rake the leaves in the beds gradually, as necessary, to clear the soil for planting or sowing, and send them to compost heaps. Or I dig it up along with half-rotten leaves if the soil has not been dug up since the fall. If the leaves are not needed, then I send them to the compost.

What to do with fallen leaves on the lawn?

If there is a lawn on the site, then it also needs to be prepared accordingly for winter. Mown lawns are trimmed again with a lawnmower without a basket or bag to collect waste. The finely crushed green mass will dry out during the autumn month and be beaten to the soil by the autumn rains, where it will rot until spring.

If the lawn is of the Moorish type and has not been mowed all summer, then in the fall it is necessary to mow it (later so that the seeds for next year) and be sure to remove the mow.

It is necessary to remove leaves of trees and shrubs from the lawn. Otherwise, under the influence of compacted mown masses and leaf litter lawn grass will rot and in the spring large bald spots will form on the lawn that will need to be re-seeded.

Winter freezing of leaf litter

Some gardeners collect leaf litter in bags for the winter and leave it to freeze in the winter. Some pests and some diseases die under the influence of frost. In the spring, this mass of leaves is sent to compost heaps, and after fermentation - to the beds.

What to do with fallen nut leaves?

The huge leafy mass of nuts always causes fear among novice gardeners. Where to put these piles of leaves. Some of them can be mixed with foliage fruit trees and add it to the soil for digging (see above), and use part of it in composts.

There is another use for nut litter. Leaves are stuffed to the top 1-2 galvanized or wooden barrels, pour boiling water over as much as will go in. Close tightly (so that the film does not tear off in winter). Over the winter, some of the leaves will rot and form a concentrate. From the concentrate, working solutions are prepared for treating plants against aphids, spider mites, Colorado potato beetles and other gnawing pests. For the working solution, 1 liter of concentrate is diluted in 10 liters of water, soap is added (for better adhesion) and the plants are sprayed. First you need to spray 1-2 plants to make sure there is no burn. If the concentration of the working solution turns out to be high, then only 0.5-0.75 liters of infusion are added to 10 liters of water. Spraying is carried out 2 times every 7-10 days. This solution can be used to treat everything after flowering. fruit trees. Processing is carried out in the afternoon.

In autumn it’s time for leaf fall and, in connection with this, every autumn you and I, dear gardeners, are tormented by the same question: How better use fallen leaves?

Should I collect it or not? Take it outside the site or store it in a compost heap, embed it in beds, bury it away from the garden or burn it?

Collection fallen leaves It takes summer residents not only a lot of effort, but also time. Among us there are many supporters of both leaf removal and its opponents.

Cleanup advocates fallen leaves they say that it is an excellent wintering place for pathogens of many plant diseases, as well as insect pests. IN compost heap leaf litter cakes and rots very slowly and it will take several years to wait for the “death” of possible pests.

Opponents of harvesting very convincingly argue that leaves protect the roots of trees from frost and, when decomposed, improve the composition of the soil and its structure, and also that fallen leaves are not only an excellent fertilizer, but also food for earthworms, which are also in the process their vital activity improves the structure of the soil.

Although, by and large, the question is what to do with fallen leaves in your own garden, everyone decides at their own discretion, but I would like to offer you several options for quite rational use of collected leaves.

Leaf humus

From fallen leaves you can prepare leaf humus, which will serve as an effective remedy that can improve the soil structure in the area.

Leaf humus contains almost as much nitrogen and phosphorus as cow manure. In addition, this product is an excellent mulch, as well as an ideal acidifier, which is so necessary for acidophilic plants.

To prepare it, it is best to take the litter of deciduous trees available on your site. You can, of course, use conifers, however, in this case the process of waste decay will be slowed down.

You can get good leaf humus in a fairly short time. To do this, in the fall, collect fallen leaves, compact them well into tight bags, then pour plenty of water into the contents and tie the bags, puncturing them in several places for better ventilation.

Leaf humus collected in the fall can be used already next spring when planting fruit and vegetable crops, and can also be added to compost.

If you have a forest nearby, then you can successfully use fallen leaves of trees such as alder, birch, maple.

Alder litter is considered the most valuable. Birch and maple have slightly less nutrients.

But fallen aspen leaves (despite the fact that they contain a lot of nutrients) decompose very poorly, as they lie quite tightly and stick together. They often have to be loosened and, moreover, additionally sprinkled with lime or chalk, due to their acidic reaction.

Oak litter is also very dense and hard, containing a lot of tannins, which prevent it from overheating quickly and well.

Therefore, it is best to use aspen and oak litter in small quantities and only in a mixture with foliage of other tree species.

Mulching

Fallen leaves can be used as natural mulch.

To do this, in the fall you just need to spread the wet leaves over empty areas of the soil, and with the arrival of spring, either rake them, or simply dig them up along with the soil.

In this case, leaf litter will protect the soil from weathering, leaching of useful substances from it, and will also suppress the growth of weeds.

We insulate perennials

Dry fallen leaves will serve you as a good insulating and heat-insulating material with which you can cover hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, roses and other heat-loving shrubs for the winter.

Attracting hedgehogs

With the help of fallen leaves, you can attract hedgehogs to your site, which happily eat pest larvae.

To do this, simply do not remove leaves along fences and around trees located in remote areas of your garden, so that this animal would want to settle in them.

Add to compost

Shredded fallen leaves can be added to your compost pile, especially if you fill it with a lot of green waste and plant debris in the fall.

In this case, they will play the role of rough “brown” material and balance the share of the latter.

For raised beds

If you have high beds, containers or boxes in your garden for growing vegetables and berry crops, then fallen leaves can be used as bulk material, which can improve the quality and structure of the soil.

For these purposes, immediately after emptying the beds, either simply pour a certain amount of pre-shredded fallen leaves into the boxes, or mix the collected litter with green debris, compost and other materials used for filling raised beds.

Fill them with shredded fallen leaves.

We make decorative compositions

Agree, fallen leaves look great against the backdrop of dirt paths.

Therefore, if you have a desire to make your garden beautiful and unpretentious, just do not remove the litter.

Well, if you are also a creative person, then you can make an excellent decorative composition from the collected leaves.

In general, dear gardeners, when deciding what to do with fallen leaves, I advise you to proceed from considerations of your own convenience.

See you soon, dear friends!

Whether or not to remove fallen leaves on your site is up to everyone to decide for themselves. But for this decision to be not intuitive, but reasonable, you need to know all the pros and cons.

Don't clean up.

To remove or not to remove leaf litter?

Nobody knows the answer to this question better than nature itself. In forests, leaves accumulate over centuries, creating a favorable environment for plants and animals and being an important link in the nutrient cycle.

Earthworms reproduce well in fallen leaves, which also provide food for them. By the beginning of summer, the worms destroy almost everything that attacked in the fall. In turn, they improve the quality of the soil by introducing organic matter into it, without which most are powerless mineral fertilizers.

The foliage itself contains large amounts of nitrogen. In this indicator, it surpasses even humus and sheep droppings. But there is very little phosphorus and potassium in it.

Despite the paucity of mineral content, fallen leaves are very useful for plants, as they improve the structure of the soil, making it looser and therefore more air-intensive. Soil air is necessary for the respiration of bacteria, animals (including earthworms), as well as the root system of plants.

A dense leaf layer is an excellent mulch, which prevents the germination of weeds (not all, but many), weathering of the fertile layer, drying out and overheating of the soil. IN winter time This mulch protects against frost.

But despite everything positive aspects natural approach, the issue remains ambiguous. The fact is that gardeners collect foliage not from forests with a centuries-old ecosystem, but from their own household plots, where the plants are mostly cultivated, etc. as a result, most of them are capricious.

Or clean up?

You can’t do without fires if the foliage is infected powdery mildew, coccomycosis or scab. Often this is the only way to stop the spread of the disease. If you add such leaves to compost, diseases can return even if you use it years later.

If leaves fall on the lawn or flower bed, they will have to be collected. Forming a dense carpet, fallen leaves block plants' access to light and air. Naturally, in such conditions the grass dies, and this happens in just a few days.

And if you clean it up, where?

If you still had to collect the foliage, you need to use natural material with maximum benefit for the site. We are, of course, talking about healthy foliage of healthy plants.

The first thing that comes to mind is compost pit. But compost is different from compost. The meager content of essential minerals in the foliage will make it useful more for the physical composition of the soil than for the chemical one. Therefore, rely on him as good fertilizer no need to. It is reasonable to compost the leaves separately and use them to lighten the soil.

Composted leaves cake and decompose very slowly. To speed up the process, the litter needs to be packed tightly into bags and filled with water. Next, the bags are tied and pierced in several places. The resulting humus can be used next spring.

If you put leaves together with green waste in plastic bags and periodically shake and mix them, you will get soil for seedlings and indoor plants. At the same time, it will be enriched with mineral elements due to the decomposition of the grass, and the leaves will give it the necessary lightness, moisture and air capacity.

Another option for using foliage is mulching. After removing the litter from the lawns, spread it on the ground for digging. You can also mulch the paths between the beds with leaves to prevent weeds from growing there. One drawback is that the foliage is slippery in wet weather.

Dry litter can be used to insulate perennials. Bulbs that have overwintered under such a blanket bloom earlier than usual. Like any other shelter, the foliage will need to be removed in time in the spring so that the plants under it do not rot.

ADVICE

You can use a lawn mower to chop up the leaves on your lawn. In this form, it is not only not dangerous for the grass, but also beneficial for the soil.

For early spring planting the litter is placed in prepared trenches (future beds) to the edges. The soil from the trenches remains along the beds in the form of an embankment. On top of the foliage you need to lay a layer of chopped grass and other plant debris. If autumn is dry, then the trenches must be shed with water.

In the spring, the thawed earthen mound should be returned to the trenches. By then the leaves will have settled. Next, the beds are insulated with covering material, under which the plants are planted. This way you can speed up the harvest.

Fallen leaves are also used to fill high beds and boxes, pouring them under the ground.

I’ll start with a question from one novice gardener, which he prefaces with the following story.

Once on television, a certified specialist explained that fallen leaves should not be burned, but collected in a heap, earthworms placed there and “over the winter they will process these leaves, turning them into a valuable fertilizer - vermicompost.” He did just that: he collected a huge pile of leaves, bought worms worth a thousand rubles and put them inside. And I covered it with film on top so that they would be warm and the leaves wouldn’t fly away. But in the spring the leaves were in their previous form and “not a single worm was in them anymore.”

The importance of fallen leaves in nature has long been known, and it is good that they have finally begun to propagate the inappropriateness of their destruction. Now, if only they did it correctly. That “specialist” should have known that, firstly, worms cannot process freshly fallen, still dry and hard leaves, since they do not have teeth. They absorb only soft and moist substrate, therefore they convert only already decomposing plant residues into vermicompost. And secondly, in winter the worms in the leaves lying on the ground do not work; they “go on vacation” into the non-freezing layers of the soil.

In forests, fallen leaves play a multifunctional role.. First of all, they insulate and protect the roots and other parts of plants in the ground from freezing. Thanks to the looseness and a large number air, lush forest litter reduces the thermal conductivity of the soil, that is, it retains summer warmth and this prevents it from freezing in winter. In addition, the forest floor is very moisture-intensive, and water also reduces the thermal conductivity of the soil. During winter thaws and during spring snowmelt, the non-freezing soil continues to absorb moisture.

A thick layer of forest litter also plays an important role as mulching, which retains moisture and prevents the formation of soil crust and erosion after rains. Gradually rotting, the mulch turns into humus, which promotes the reproduction of earthworms. Under a multi-year layer of such mulch, the soil is always dark, loose, and well structured.

Fallen leaves after rotting are a very valuable organic fertilizer, containing potassium, phosphorus, calcium, nitrogenous substances and useful microelements.

All these valuable properties create favorable conditions for plant development. That’s why huge trees grow in forests without any mineral fertilizers. There is such a long-standing experience in one forestry when limited area removed the forest litter and then collected fallen leaves for several years, the growth of plantings fell by 20%. It took twice as long more years to restore natural soil conditions and normalize tree growth.

It should be clear from here golden rule nature which is used in organic farming: the earth should never remain naked and everything that grew on the earth should return to it.

In the northern states of America, the leaves are centrally used to obtain fertile soil, which is then sold in stores. Landowners collect fallen leaves in the fall, and only in paper bags, followed by certain days special cars arrive. The filled bags are stored, watered with water, and as a result, leaf humus is obtained, which, with the addition of peat and sand, becomes good soil for plants.

But all this was known to us a long time ago. Let me remind you again that back in the middle of the 17th century. Russian experimental agronomist A. Bolotov wrote in his essay “On Fertilizing Lands”: “When leaves from trees rot, they serve almost as well as manure.”

Why don’t our modern gardeners and vegetable gardeners appreciate the experience of previous years, burning huge piles of leaves every autumn? Some - out of ignorance, others - due to mistrust associated with damage to leaves by infection (scab, sooty fungus, anthracnose, etc.).

But when they are used wisely, pathogens that affect leaves and shoots mostly die during the period of decomposition in the ground, in the compost heap, and especially after processing the rotting mass by earthworms. Therefore the leaves fruit crops can be laid for deep rotting, and with healthy foliage of maple, linden, birch, chestnut, etc., it is more advisable to cover plants superficially for the winter, and then mulch in the summer.

Such a shelter saves many valuable plants in frosty conditions in the absence of snow (that is, in “dark winters”). But all you need to do is sprinkle the bases of bushes, for example, strawberries, with a thick layer of fallen leaves (photo on the left). And to prevent them from flying away, put branches on top, which will also help retain snow. Many bulbous crops (for example, daffodils, lilies, etc.), various new plants, etc. require similar shelters.

To the leaves, which are used in the fall for rotting in the ground, you can and should add fallen fruits and green tops of vegetables, berries, flowers and other crops. But exactly tops, preferably without roots. Without experience in recognizing various diseases, you can introduce an infection that persists in the ground for a long time and is difficult to eradicate. Such dangerous diseases include clubroot (photo on the right) (swellings on the roots), bacterial cancer (in the form of growths can be found on the roots of marigolds and some vegetable crops), as well as root nematode - a microscopic pest of potatoes, strawberries, etc. Such roots are categorically cannot be left on the site at all. They must be carefully collected and burned without shaking off the soil.

IMPORTANT. People often ask: is it possible to use leaves that are raked in city parks and squares for your plot?

The answer is clear - no, you can’t. Such leaves can cause contamination of the soil and products grown on it with substances harmful to health (compounds of heavy metals - cadmium, lead, copper, nickel, etc.). Landscaping workers should take care of the disposal of urban leaf litter.

For winter mulching(i.e. shelters) It is better to use litter from large-leaved trees(maple, chestnut). But any others will do. You just need to keep in mind that the smaller the leaves, the faster they cake, thicken and displace air. In the spring, leaf mulch must be carefully removed so that its layer caked over the winter does not interfere with the flow of heat and air into the soil, and bulbous crops- their germination. But do not throw away or burn these leaves. There will still be many benefits from them after rotting in a compost heap or in a worm bin.

The valuable properties of fallen leaves can also be used to obtain more early harvest vegetable crops (potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage, etc.) or to speed up the planting of strawberries and some flowers.

1. To do this, you need to prepare trenches in the fall and fill them with leaves.
2. In place of each row, dig a trench along the cord with a depth and width of the bayonet of an ordinary shovel (more is possible).
3. The main thing is to stack the excavated soil side by side on one side so that an earthen roller (ridge) is formed.
4. Then fill the trench to the top with leaf litter and, especially if autumn is dry, water it with water, or even better, a solution of slurry, herbal infusion or household waste.
5. It is advisable to place juicy greens on top: cabbage leaves chopped with a shovel, tops of root vegetables, peppers, nasturtiums, sweet pea etc. Plant residues will return valuable nutrients to the soil. nutrients, will simultaneously contribute to the rapid decomposition of dry leaves.
6. The filled trench does not need to be trampled down or covered with earth. It is only advisable to sprinkle rotted manure or compost on top to fill it with beneficial microorganisms that accelerate rotting.
7. The trench spends the winter in this form. Its contents will compact themselves, settle, and become saturated with useful snow water.
8. In the spring, the earthen ridge that rises next to each trench is heated by the sun and thaws faster than the flat surface nearby.
9. Therefore, at the first opportunity, use a hoe or shovel to rake the thawed soil into the trenches and, depending on the crop being grown, make a film greenhouse or other shelter over them (if necessary). The main thing is to be thoughtful about biological features plants.
10. To make it easier to walk on still slushy ground in early spring and not trample it, in the fall, provide access to the work site by laying “sidewalks” from boards or other available material.

This method of preparing trenches in autumn for early spring planting is especially valuable for clayey areas with perched water, that is, poor water permeability of the soil, where it does not dry out for a long time.

Using a similar principle, you can make wider and deeper beds by placing small brushwood and coarse plant debris on the bottom, and leaf litter and quickly decomposing tops on top. In the spring, the contents of the trench will rot, releasing heat. As a result, the soil structure, its water and physical properties. Earthworms and beneficial soil microorganisms quickly multiply in it. All this makes the soil fertile and increases the yield, ensuring its environmental purity.