The beauty of fall leaves quickly turns into…well, piles and piles across the yard. Cue the groan as you reach for the rake. But before you drag those leaves to the curb, let’s explore how they can be of use to your garden!
Those leaves aren’t a burden - they’re a free resource just waiting to become compost. And with a system like GardenSoxx, which thrives when filled with 100% compost, you’ll never look at leaves the same way again.
Option 1: Don’t Rake at Al![]()
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If you’ve got a mulching mower, you’re in luck. Just set it high and mow right over the leaves. Each pass chops them finer, and those tiny bits fall between your grass blades. Microbes and nutrients go straight into the soil, creating a natural fertilizer for your lawn. Zero bags, zero hauling, zero stress.
Option 2: Rake Into a Pile (But Skip the Matches!)
Got a big pile of leaves? Perfect. Just don’t burn them - it’s wasteful and harmful to the environment (and not exactly neighbor-friendly). Instead, compost or mulch them. Here are a few quick rules:
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Skip walnut and eucalyptus leaves (their natural chemicals can hurt plants).
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Compost pine needles separately because they will give your compost extra acidity. They are, however, the perfect mulch for blueberries or azaleas.
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Don’t let piles sit on your lawn as they will smother the grass. Shred and use them as mulch instead.
Did you know?: Leaves in the landfill become methane (a greenhouse gas 25x stronger than CO₂). Keeping them out helps the planet and your garden.
Shred for the Best Results
Shredded leaves break down faster and make the composting process smoother. You can:
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Mow over them and collect the shreds.
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Use a string trimmer inside a trash bin to make quick work of a batch.
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Store shredded leaves in bins, bags, or even a wire circle until you’re ready to use them.
Think of shredded leaves as your “brown gold” — a perfect partner for kitchen scraps in your compost mix. Anytime you toss in food waste, cover it with shredded leaves to keep things balanced.
How Composting Leaves Boosts Your Garden
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Saves money (by making your own compost instead of buying it).
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Feeds your soil with local microbes that are already adapted to your environment.
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Provides free mulch to keep weeds down and moisture in.
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Gives you year-round browns for balancing your compost pile.
And here’s where GardenSoxx shines: fill your GardenSoxx with 100% compost — including your shredded leaf compost - and you’ve got the perfect growing system. You’re recycling fall leaves right back into food and flowers.
Extra Leaf Hacks for Garden Planning
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Mulch now, plant later: Spread shredded leaves over beds to protect soil and suppress weeds.
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Vine crop rings: Fill chicken wire circles with shredded leaves, top with compost in spring, and plant cucumbers or squash right into it. By fall, you’ll have “black gold” compost to spread back into your garden.
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Auxiliary pile: If you run out of bins, just tuck leaves in a back corner. They’ll naturally break down into leaf mold - a crumbly, earthy compost that’s fantastic as mulch.
See Leaves Differently
When you look out at your yard this fall, don’t see a chore - see opportunity. Those leaves are one of the easiest, cheapest ways to create healthy soil. And when you put that compost into GardenSoxx, you’re closing the loop beautifully: waste becomes resource, and resource becomes growth.
