How to Compost Leaves
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Composting leaves to mulch and feed your Spring and Summer vegetable or flower garden
Tree leaves, whether collected and composted in Fall or Spring, are a great food source for your organic garden. By recycling them and turning them into compost, you have a constant source of natural pant food.
On this page you will learn how to compost leaves if your are fortunate enough to live in an area where you have deciduous trees that shed their leaves on a seasonal basis.
Image Credit: Matt Banks / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Claudia a/k/a happynutritionist
Updated 5/30/12
Contents at a Glance
- 1 - Compost Pile Plans and Instructions
- 2 - How Big should a Compost Pile be?
- Photos with Fall Leaves
- 3 - How to Keep your Compost Pile in One...
- 4 - What to add and NOT to add to Compos...
- 5 - How Much Water to Add to a Compost P...
- 6 - How to Speed Up and Increase the Com...
- How Do You Feed Your Garden?
- 7 - How and When to Turn a Compost Pile...
1 - Compost Pile Plans and Instructions
How to pick a spot for your compost pile
First you have to pick a place on your property for your compost pile that has adequate drainage, higher ground in your yard.
You want it to be in a place where water does not pool in your yard, so watch what the water does the next time you have a fairly heavy rain.
When you've picked your spot, you can gather your leaves with a rake or leaf blower, see the next section for the preferred size of of your pile of leaves and why.
Click here for information about this photo.
2 - How Big should a Compost Pile be?
Not to small, not to large.
A - Not to Small - At the very least, your compost pile should be about 4 feet in diameter x about 3 feet high. It has to be large enough to hold enough moisture and to heat up enough inside as it decomposes. The heat from decomposition is essential in the making of compost in order to break down the leaves and kill off the seeds from weeds that may be in the pile.
B - Not to Large - Don't make your pile larger than about 10 feet in diameter x 5 feet high. The compost pile needs to "breath", enough air has to get to the center of the pile so that it does not smell like rotted leaves.
If you need a lot of compost, you can make more than one pile using the guidelines above.
Here are some leaf blowers and rakes that may be helpful in getting your leaves into a pile. I find the Poly Rake easiest for loose leaves, and a metal leaf rake for leaves in tougher places...my husband loves his leaf blower.
3 - How to Keep your Compost Pile in One Place
So it looks neat and leaves don't blow away
When you make one or more compost piles from leaves, you are going to need a way to keep them from blowing away and keep the pile looking decent since it is going to be on your property...especially in a residential area.
One inexpensive way to do this is to use wooden slat fencing which can be purchased by the roll. Our family used chicken wire with stakes to contain our compost piles, but I prefer the look of wooden slat fencing. It is self-supported and allows for free flow of air.
4' X 50' WOOD SNOW FENCE
Amazon Price: $110.39 (as of 05/30/2012)
Usually ships in 2-3 business days
4 - What to add and NOT to add to Compost
You can add:
-Grass Clippings (mix in when adding)
-Weeds
-Soft trimmings from shrubs
-Peels from fruit and veggies
-Clean egg shells
-Used Coffee Grounds
DO NOT add:
-Diseased vegetation
-Grass clippings treated with weed-killing herbicides
-Meat
-Grease
-Most Animal Waste
5 - How Much Water to Add to a Compost Pile
Not too little, not too much
If there is little rain, you are going to add water as needed, not too much and not too little. This video does a good job of explaining how much and why, and has additional helpful information about composting.
Please note he didn't say what food scraps NOT to add to compost, don't add the things mentioned above....and be careful about what animal waste you add.
TIP: Your compost will break down more quickly if you use shredded leaves, you can use a mulching leaf blower/vacuum like one of the items offered above for this, or some mow their leaves with a power mower before adding.
6 - How to Speed Up and Increase the Composting Process
Compost Accelerator
If you want to use plant food, use food that is 10% Nitrogen. A rough calculation as to how much to use would be about 1/4 a cup in the amount of leaves that would fill a 20 gallon can. This will help encourage decomposition.
Leaves will decompose naturally if you don't add anything, but many like to increase the natural process. Some suggest adding limestone, or adding soil to the leaves. These steps aren't necessary.
You can also buy compost accelerators and follow the instructions that come on the bottle. They should contain all natural nutrients, enzymes and more to aid in speeding up the composting process.
MrGreen PRO Compost Accelerator 34 oz
Amazon Price: $11.99 (as of 05/30/2012)
Usually ships in 24 hours
How Do You Feed Your Garden?
The compost poll
7 - How and When to Turn a Compost Pile in Hot and Cold Weather
More when outdoor temperatures are hot, less when cold
In areas where it is warm in the late spring, summer or early fall, or for those who live in warm climates year round, you will want to turn your compost pile with a pitch fork each month so that leaves on the outside of the pile are moved to the center so they will decompose.
When the weather is cold (late fall, winter, early spring in climates with cold winters) do not turn your compost heap so it will remain hot and decompose in the center. If you have a nice warm pile, you'll notice it may steam during cold months, and snow will thaw on it more quickly than other places on your property.
Some like to use a hand turned compost bin to make their compost.
ComposTumbler 08001 Back Porch 5-Cubic-Foot Heavy-Duty Poly Compost Bin
Amazon Price: (as of 05/30/2012)
8 - What is the Ideal Temperature for a Compost Pile?
Taking your compost's temperature
Here's an amateur but helpful instructional video on taking compost temperature....and he is using a thermometer similar to the one below.
9 - What does Compost Look Like when it's Ready to Use?
Dark, rich, crumbly
When the compost looks dark and rich and crumbles in your hand it is ready to be used. The process takes 5-9 or 10 months, depending upon temperature and moisture conditions.
TIP: If you have more than one compost pile, start one a few months before the other, staggering the time when the piles will be ready to use so you always have a supply.
10 - How to Use Your Compost
Does it contain enough nutrients?
- Use it as Mulch in place of straw or peat-moss
- For 1000 square feet, use 25-30 bushels of compost, work into top 6-8" of soil
- After adding compost to the soil some suggest adding 1 lb of 10% nitrogen fertilizer to the soil for each 3 bushels of compost
- Compost adds organic content to the soil, and makes some soils easier to cultivate, but does not necessarily contain high amounts of nutrients.
- In spite of what "some say" above, you'll see a great improvement in your garden when you add compost
- Add it to the soil you will use in your planters if you do container gardening
Searching for Compost
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opheliakeith
Jan 22, 2012 @ 12:10 am | delete
- Great lens! These are tips I can use when I compost!
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TapIn2U Aug 16, 2011 @ 9:48 pm | delete
- Informative lens! This would help a lot for those who are planning to make a beautiful garden. Sundae ;-)
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happynutritionist Apr 19, 2011 @ 2:43 pm | delete
- Leaves are not only available for composting in the fall, but in the spring when I remove them from protecting my gardens.
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Senora_M
Dec 22, 2010 @ 11:00 pm | delete
- We have a huge compost pile that my husband deals with. I have nothing to do with it other than adding our kitchen trash to it! :) I don't even look at it--I'm sure he's done it wrong, but it's his deal! Cool lens.
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ohcaroline
Nov 20, 2010 @ 3:33 pm | delete
- It gives added meaning to raking those leaves and yard debris when you know how they will end up. Good instructions.
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sandyspider
Nov 15, 2010 @ 6:19 pm | delete
- Great lens on composting.
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Tipi
Nov 15, 2010 @ 5:11 pm | delete
- There is nothing as good as natures own source to turn into compost, to feed itself. This is a very good and helpful lens. Great compost doesn't need to be expensive at all.
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BuckHawk
Nov 15, 2010 @ 4:07 pm | delete
- This is a great lens. Lots of good information for composters like me. Lensrolled to my Fall Leaves for the Garden lens.
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aishu19
Nov 15, 2010 @ 3:53 pm | delete
- This would be a useful way of making use of all those fall leaves. Great tutorial!!
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Click Below to Go Back to a Topic
Table of Contents
- 1 - Compost Pile Plans and Instructions
- 2 - How Big should a Compost Pile be?
- Photos with Fall Leaves
- 3 - How to Keep your Compost Pile in One Place
- 4 - What to add and NOT to add to Compost
- 5 - How Much Water to Add to a Compost Pile
- 6 - How to Speed Up and Increase the Composting Process
- How Do You Feed Your Garden?
- 7 - How and When to Turn a Compost Pile in Hot and Cold Weather
- 8 - What is the Ideal Temperature for a Compost Pile?
- 9 - What does Compost Look Like when it's Ready to Use?
- 10 - How to Use Your Compost
- Searching for Compost
- % Donated to Food for Everyone
- This is a Squid Angel blessed page
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by happynutritionist
Do you use your fallen fall foliage as compost for the garden? If not, here is how to recycle fall leaves by feeding them to your garden.
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Worm Composter
Worm Tea?
Worm Factory 360 WF360B Worm Composter, Black
Amazon Price: $89.96 (as of 05/30/2012)
Sounds like an interesting item, if you like worms. They do a great job of turning your leaves to compost, and they say this has a built in tray that collects "worm tea" with a spigot for draining. It can be used indoors or outdoors.
Let it Rot Composting Guide
Let it Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting (Third Edition) (Storey's Down-To-Earth Guides)
Amazon Price: $5.00 (as of 05/30/2012)
