The reds, golds and browns of Fall leaves are one of the most beautiful aspects of the season, but they quickly lose their appeal when they’re clogging up your gutters, garden and paving! Here are some of the best things to do with Fall leaves, from our cash for houses team (we are specialist cash house buyers in Fort Worth).
#1 – Create a Compost Pile
Composting is a great way to turn kitchen waste into plant food, and it’s an easy but rewarding project! For a compost pile to be successful, it needs green and brown waste. Green waste is stuff like grass clippings, coffee grounds, vegetable and fruit scraps, eggshells, and tea leaves. Brown waste includes twigs, straw, corn stalks, sawdust, dryer lint, paper, corrugated non-coated cardboard, pant clippings and – of course – fall leaves. You need a ratio of 4 parts brown waste to 1 part green waste, as this will help create the heat needed to break down all the waste into nutritious compost.
A smelly compost heap needs more brown waste while a cool compost heap needs more greens, so you can judge it as you go along. You can add the waste in layers and turn on a monthly basis. If you have too many all leaves for your compost heap to handle, you can store them in dry trash bags through the winter and use them up in spring, when brown waste is more difficult to come by.
#2 – Make Mulch
Mulch is one of the best uses for Fall leaves, helping to improve soil quality, suppressing weed growth and protecting tender plants through the winter. It’s best to shred your leaves first, as this prevents the leaves from forming a thick mat that water and air can’t penetrate. After shredding your leaves, cluster them thickly in flower beds around the plants (without burying or covering plant stems) and hose them down so that they don’t blow around in the wind.
You can also use the leaves as mulching for your lawn, which helps improve the soil quality for when spring arrives. To do this, use a mulching setting on your mower and simply run it over the leaves. This breaks up the leaves and spreads them well, so your grass can still get enough air circulation. Over the winter months, the mulch will decompose right into the soil.
#3 – Make Leaf Mold
Leaf mold sounds pretty unappetizing, but it’s as useful as compost for your plants, so it’s worth experimenting with! It’s an effective, organic and totally free soil amendment, and you can use it in every part of your yard, from vegetable and fruit gardens to your lawns and flower beds.
The main benefit of leaf mold is that it conditions the soil, increasing the ability of the soil to hold moisture by up to 50%. It creates a healthy soil environment too, creating the ideal conditions for beneficial insects and bacteria.
To make leaf mold, place your fall leaves in a large plastic garbage bag. Add some slits to the bag to ensure that air can circulate well. Then water the leaves thoroughly and close the bag. Every month or so, check the bag and water it more if it’s drying out. You want to keep it nice and damp for about 6 months, then it’s ready to use.
To speed up the process, you can shred your leaves first, as smaller pieces decay faster.
When it’s ready to use, dig it into your beds, use it as mulch or add it to container plants.
#4 – Insulate Tender Plants
If you have plants that are new or that you need to protect from the cold, then you can use leaves to insulate them through the winter. You can do this in two ways:
- Place a wire fence around the plant and stuff the leaves in all the way around the plant, about two feet high if you have a taller plant that needs protecting.
- Cover the plant with hessian sacking, packing in leaves inside the sacking around the plant’s stem and tying it gently to hold the leaves in place.
You can use the leaves in spring as mulch or to make leaf mold.
Want to Sell Your Home in 24 Hours? Speak to Cash House Buyers in Fort Worth
As we mentioned, a sparkling swimming pool is a great draw for property buyers! If you’re interested in selling your home privately or want to sell your home quickly, our cash for houses Fort Worth team is happy to buy it. Here’s how our process works:
- You enter your information on our website
- We’ll contact you directly to discuss an offer for your property (you can also get a free property evaluation from our website)
- You can accept or reject the offer
- You can also call us directly on 469-858-0088
Our team of cash house buyers is compassionate and highly-motivated to offer you the best possible market-related price for your home you want to sell fast. You also pay zero real estate agent commission.
At Shiny Key Properties, our trained consultants have years of experience in helping homeowners to get out of foreclosure or needing to sell quickly. To find out more about our cash for houses Forth Worth service or to speak to our cash house buyers directly to sell your home privately, please contact us today and speak to one of our friendly team members.