Garden Leaf Recycling
Recycle your leaves at home rather than placing them in the green organics bin.
Make compost (leaf mould)
Turn leaves into leaf mould (semi-decomposed leaf matter) by making a pile, adding some water, covering them and turning them over every few weeks.
In three months or so you’ll have a nutrient rich organic semi-decomposed leaf mould to put on the garden.
To make the process quicker leaves can be broken up first with a mulcher or lawn mower.
Place in home compost bin or worm farm
Dry leaf matter provides a great source of carbon in your compost bin or worm farm.
Use leaves to layer between wet food scraps and garden materials.
Keep excess leaves in bags for in spring and summer when dry leaves are hard to find.
Make a mulch
Leaf matter provides nutrients, helps to stop weeds and retain moisture.
Rake them up and spread them straight on or mulch them up first and put them in flower beds, vegetable gardens and under trees and shrubs or in container gardens to provide nutrients, keep weeds down and the moisture in.
Mow over them
One of the easiest solutions is to run over them with the lawn mower, no raking required.
Empty the lawn mower catcher onto your garden for mulch, directly into your compost bin or green lidded food and garden organics (FOGO) bin.
Don’t bag them
Please don’t place leaves, lawn clippings or any other garden material in a plastic bag. Plastic bags are not compostable and will cause contamination issues.
Don’t sweep them onto the street
They may end up in our water ways causing excess nutrients leading to algal blooms. If the leaves are collected by street sweepers they end up wasted in landfill as they are contaminated with other street litter and grime.
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Note: If you don't want to recycle your leaves at home, please place them in your green lidded organics bin. |
Council's Street Sweeping Program
The Council's Street Sweeping Program is designed to effectively manage the tidying of tree-lined streets in a coordinated manner.
The program targets the areas of highest need and responds to the seasonal activity of street trees, whilst maintaining the quality of our environment.
For more information about the Council's program, visit: Street Sweeping
