Here come the leaves and pine needles!
Summer is on its way out. In just a few weeks it will be Autumn. Most of us here in Kingwood and the Lake Houston area are blessed with lots of trees! To many of us though, trees and fall mean big messes on our lawns and driveways. Time to rake up and clean up all the leaves and pine needles.
Many residents use a lawn service to do this “dirty work”. Some of us, for some strange reason, like to do it ourselves. I am one of those strange people! Being an avid recycler, I hate on trash day, to see hundreds of bags of this precious commodity waiting on the curb for their trip to the dump. Think of all the fertilizer and water that you paid dearly for in the spring and summer that will be buried there forever. If I had the energy, I would grab them all and make compost or mulch out of them.
The good news: If the City of Houston’s Solid Waste Department is your trash service provider, they do take green waste to a composting facility. The bad news: As far as we know all the other private trash service companies operating in the area take green waste to the landfill—mostly over on Atascocita road.
An even better idea: Use your grass, leaves, and pine needles on your own property. With a mulching lawnmower, you can mulch most grass, leaves, and debris back into the lawn. When leaf drop is too much for that, catch the mulched leaves and use them for mulch around trees and bushes. By next spring, most of them will have become part of the soil, enriching it greatly. If you really want to be ambitious, you can start a compost pile behind the garage or in a back corner of your yard. Aged compost is one of the best fertilizers any plant could desire. If you hire a lawn service, tell them you want your grass and leaves mulched and left on your property.
So, this fall don’t bag them—use them. Save money and improve the planet and especially the piece of it where you live.