Many cities offer curbside collection of leaves, where they are typically gathered and sent to a compost site to turn into valuable soil builder. What many don’t realize is that this is costing taxpayers’ money; money for trucks and labor. And unless the compost site is owned by the municipality, there is typically a fee to dump the leaves. That is assuming they are composted and not taken to a landfill.
Riparian owners have been known to rake leaves into the water, our readers are too smart to be that careless! When the leaves decompose in waterways, they remove oxygen from the water. Decaying plants also release nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus into the water that promote excessive algae growth. Fish and other aquatic life can’t survive in water with low oxygen. Excessive algae, likewise, can pose threats to human and animal health.
People want beautiful lush green lawns come spring will typically fertilize, fertilize, fertilize. However, those nutrients that green up the grass also get washed into local lakes. Aquatic plants grow like “weeds” and so can algae if the conditions are right. But, using fall leaves for lawn nutrients keeps them out of waterways and landfills and will green up your lawn.