How to Reduce Yard Waste
How to Reduce Yard Waste
Yard waste can recycle naturally, when managed correctly. Here are a few ways you can put less yard waste to the curb and benefit your garden at the same time.
Grasscycling – Let the clips fall!
Use a mulching mower or retrofit your current mower with a mulching blade kit and let clips fall back into the lawn.
- Adds nitrogen from clippings to the soil
- Cuts fertilizer use by 30% or more.
Cut only 1/3 of grass blade at a time to promote root growth and shade out weeds. Deep roots help plants resist drought and disease.
Other Options
- Add low-maintenance plant beds and groundcovers, slow-growth bushes, decks, walkways and borders to your yard to reduce lawn area.
- Use Shredded leaves and grass clippings as mulches to control weeds, conserve moisture and reduce soil erosion:
- place 1" to 2" layer on wet newspaper between vegetable/flower rows
- sprinkle 1" layer around bushes, tree base
- work into garden soil
- Add shredded leaves and grass to your compost pile.
- Shred leaves into lawn with mulching mower; adds nutrients and does not hurt the lawn.
Backyard Composting
Transform your yard waste into humus-rich compost. Use compost in the garden, with potted plants, as a topdressing for lawns, or as mulch around trees and shrubs.
Composting
- Improves soil structure
- Encourages root growth
- Aerates & adds nutrients to the soil
Here is a brief overview of backyard composting. For more information, visit the Healthy Lawn and Gardens page.
Materials for Composting
For an ideal composting mix, combine shredded leaves (50% of total volume) and grass clippings (25% of total volume) with garden soil or compost (25% of total volume). If you don’t have grass clippings available, you can make excellent compost by using additional shredded leaves or other garden clippings.
Building the Compost Pile
1. Start with a layer of organic materials such as shredded leaves, grass, or other garden clippings –
to provide microorganisms.
2. Water the layer until it is as moist as a wrung-out sponge.
3. Add a 2 to 3 inch layer of garden soil or compost – to provide microorganisms. Mix.
4. Continue layering, watering and mixing.
Build the pile to a size of 3 feet x 3 feet x 3 feet, or slightly larger, to fill the compost bin.
Plastic compost bins with lids are highly recommended, since they retain moisture and keep out animals.
Turning the Pile
Turning and mixing the compost pile with a garden fork or compost turner adds oxygen and accelerates the
process of decomposition. The pile may be turned once a week, once a month, several times a year, or not at all.
However, if the pile is turned over and mixed from time to-time and kept moist, finished compost is usually
available within six months.
Don’t worry about the temperature of the pile –either a hot or cold process yields beneficial compost.
