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Tips for disposing of fallen leaves (slrpnk.net)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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My mom was complaining that the city has limits on how many leaves that they'll pick up, and she's got bags and bags of leaves stuffed into black garbage bags. This seems like a problem that should have some kind of backyard solution.

I've done a cursory search, and see that leaves are very compostable. They can also apparently be turned into "mold", though I don't fully understand what this means.

But I also see that there is a lot of variety in compost bins, and they're quite expensive. So I'm wondering: what's the best strategy for making leaves go away? She's not specifically interested in the product of the leaves, she just wants to find somewhere to put them after she rakes them up. Any ideas?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

If youve got the space, it can be as simple as just piling them up and leaving them for a few years. My mom does this, they take about three years to break down into usable compost. They'll go faster if chopped up by running the lawn mower over them before raking, or using a reverse leaf blower that shreds them.

There's also definitely no need to buy a fancy compost bin - you'd do just fine with a garbage can with the bottom sawn off to let the worms in. My municipality also had bins for sale for like $25 that have worked well for me.