Hybrid Maple in fall color by Lesley Bruce SmithJust available in an all new format is a fertilizer for trees that we just cannot keep to ourselves! A fertilizer, yes, but really so much more! It is packed with nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. It is a root insulator that keeps roots protected from excessive heat in the summer and excessive cold in the winter. It is loaded with micro-nutrients, it has all kinds of micro-flora and fauna, it conserves moisture and acts as a mulch and amazingly it is completely renewable, organic and even beautiful. However, the most astonishing reality about this fertilizer is that it is absolutely FREE, yet every fall it is tossed away as though it was worthless, or even worse, a nuisance.
What is this amazing fertilizer?
The leaves that blanket our lawns each fall. Recently, in speaking with a friend we were reminded once again that many of us don’t know the wealth of resources that lay just at our feet every autumn. By separating lawns from grass using even small mulched or planting beds we have the marvelous reward of never having to rake our leaves. In 32 years of home ownership we have never raked leaves. We have a mulching mower, which most lawn mowers are now, and what doesn’t fall into our planting beds to be recycled gets munched by the mower and composted into the lawn, fertilizing and enriching that area of the landscape. So if you are panicking about not getting the leaves raked up or hate that particular chore, take a break! Do a favor to your trees and shrubs by leaving the leaves alone.