Gardening Tips: Fall clean up

The weather this past week has turned decidedly fall- like, as we watch the leaves change into their final lovely shades of yellow, red, purple, tan, gold and crimson.

It is true that deciduous tree leaves are most beautiful at the end of their lives. I think that may be true for some people as well. Humans, like leaves, are destined to shrivel and die, but some attain an inner beauty late in life that is not nearly as appreciated as it should be. Our society worships youth and there is much to be admired in young people, but we often don’t acknowledge the wisdom that accompanies old age.

Sugar maple leaves may be the best mulching material that exists and right now they are free for the gathering. I see many driveways and lawns that have a 4-inch layer of sugar maple leaves on them. It is a shame to bag them up to send to a landfill or, worse yet, burn them at the curb. Dry sugar maple leaves contain up to 1.75% calcium, which is an important plant nutrient. They also decompose readily during a normal winter season and will improve any garden soil they are tilled into. I like to mulch my asparagus bed with a 6- to 10-inch layer of sugar maple leaves each fall and that is about all the fertilizer the bed needs.

Oak leaves, however, make a poor garden mulch since they tend to mat up and break down very slowly, if at all, for months. They are also quite acidic and can suffocate tender seedlings trying to emerge next spring. Almost all other tree species leaves fall somewhere between these two extremes. Forests remain healthy and generally pest free as a result of the annual leaf shedding that provides these benefits without any assistance from humans.

The real “players” in the whole forest ecosystem dynamics are the often ignored underground fungi that do all the dirty work, as they recycle organic matter in ways that seem almost deliberate, or perhaps even diabolical. I recently read about a fairly common species of fungi in the genus Laccaria that poisons tiny animals called “springtails” which feed on the fungal mycelium. The fungi then break down the dead springtail’s bodies, which releases nitrogen, not only to the fungus, but also to nearby trees. In some cases this dead insect nitrogen may provide the bulk of a tree’s nutrient needs as well as feeding the fungi!

I have not harvested my potatoes or Brussel’s sprouts yet, and I still have beets and carrots to pick as well, but most of my garden is spent and ready for fall cleanup. Remember that all the prep work you can accomplish now will save you time next spring when things are really busy.

You can start a compost pile with your spent vegetable plants, layered with the previously mentioned sugar maple leaves. Compost piles are like lasagna in that they are layered with different materials. The smaller the size of material that goes into it, the quicker it will compost. Shredding corn stalks, pulverizing egg shells, cutting vines into pieces with a machete and anything else you can do to reduce the bulky materials will speed up the process significantly. Some things, like corn cobs, intact egg shells, citrus fruit peels, Brussels sprouts stalks and other woody debris composts very, very slowly.

Suburban residents may want to compost in a defined structure or compost bin. Four wooden pallets tied together with twine will frame a decent sized compost bin, or you can make a circle of chicken wire held up with stakes. I have seen some nice compost bins made from cinder blocks as well.

Ideally, you should be able to easily access the compost pile to periodically turn it over with a pitchfork. A handful of soil thrown in every layer is all that is needed to “activate” the microbes that turn garbage into black gold. Don’t waste your money on products that are sold to improve or speed up the process. Compost piles do not need to be activated. There are millions of microbes that do this naturally in a single tablespoon of soil.

Reach Bob Beyfuss at rlb14@cornell.edu.