My family and I just went up Bishop Creek to check out the fall color. You should, too. Its beauty may inspire you enough that you won't mind the drudgery of raking leaves that will be upon us in a few short weeks.
Your trees spend a lot of time gathering nutrients and resources to make leaves, and they're a valuable asset. Maybe not like gold or platinum, but useful anyway.
Leaves are a good way of adding organic matter to a garden or compost pile. You have to do something with them, so why not put them to use after spending all that effort gathering them?
On their own, leaves decompose very slowly. Oaks in particular seem to be in no hurry to break down. In order to speed this process up, the compost pile or garden needs to have adequate nitrogen and moisture available. UC has a couple fact sheets on composting:
- Why Compost?
- Compost in a Hurry (Probably not the most practical system with fall leaves, but good info.)
- SLO Backyard Composting Guide
CalRecycle has information on composting as well. Check out their website.
We tend to be dryer than these other places so our compost needs to be moistened and/or kept covered. Even in winter.
Small particles will decompose more quickly than big ones. I try to grind up my leaves. For everything but my oak tree, I have a leaf blower that reverses direction and turns into a vacuum that sucks and grinds leaves once they're dry. I find that the fastest way. For my oak leaves I have to be more creative...or just patient. It's remarkable how small a leaf pile gets after it has been chopped up.
I incorporate my chopped leaves into my garden and add a little nitrogen and water. By spring they have broken down. I am lucky that I have just the right number of leaves for this to work, but some yards have far too many. Compost piles are a better option in this case.
If you've accumulated pine needles, know that these make an excellent mulch for the landscape. Note that in some communities composting and mulching are frowned upon. Ask your fire department about mulches if you have questions.
We encourage you to make the most of what your landscape gives you. Look into composting yard waste or using it as a mulch.