Tree Leaves -- A Yearly Chore, or an Opportunity?

While not exactly a subject directly related to woodworking, tree leaves are close by both association with the source of our favorite medium and as a time sink when we would rather be making sawdust instead of collecting and disposing of them each autumn.

My community, like many others, has banned the use of the nostalgic way of getting rid of them. That is, by gathering them and setting them afire. While there has been a loss of a primary nuance of the season, the essence of smoke from “the burn,” air quality regulations have actually helped to add economy and value to this almost final stage of leaf life. There is no question that the fall harvest of this annual crop should result in more than a momentary treat to the nose. While fond memory is one way of making the flavor last, there is another way that in many respects is even more pleasing. It is called composting.

Composting is simply a technique that can decrease the time needed for natural processes to return the nutrients stored inside the leaf to the soil that feeds the tree itself, or to your selection of alternate planting areas which can also benefit from them.

Both our county and city offer to compost leaves, grass clippings and soft plant trimmings, provided you either haul the “green” stock to the composting site, or for a modest fee, will collect leaves placed at the curb once during the autumn season.

Now most do-it-yourself projects are satisfying and this is no exception. I suspect that one can produce a better grade of compost by creating it in your own back yard using material generated on your own property, but I personally appreciate the service provided by this local government operation. After they have done the mixing and tossing long enough to turn the green and brown items into a rich black substance loved by every plant blessed with its presence, I simply load it into my little trailer and bring it home. It takes them about two years to complete the operation.

Should you prefer brewing your own magic mix in a shorter length of time you will need a place to contain and help process it. There have been several mechanical devices developed that can help ease the necessary task of frequently turning the mass of raw material to evenly and completely add air to it, but time honored methods and home made equipment will work just as well.

This requires a simple multiple bin system that will allow you to transfer the material as it progresses through its stages of development and a shovel or two to handle it. While most serious gardeners already have the tools, they usually prefer a set place to work the material other than just making room for a simple pile of “stuff” on the ground. Just like any other storage task, they prefer a stylized system for this operation. Here is my version of how to do it.

We start by taking advantage of the structure of the conventional pallet. We can form the walls of a simple twin-bin compost station by selecting five good size pallets, turning them on edge and placing them in the form of an “E” with the three legs facing the direction you will want to load and process the compost from. You will want to place the deck boards of each pallet toward the inside of this structure. The pallets can be easily held in position by the use of ten 2x4’s salvaged from other pallets. These anchors are driven into the supporting soil between the interior walls of each pallet, using another short 2x4 atop them to assist driving them into position. The addition of a layer of chicken wire, or similar, can be fastened to the interior wall surfaces to complete the basic structure.

Should you wish to enclose the front of this compost station, you can easily do so by nailing a few strips of wood to the end faces of the three pallets. This will produce a track that can contain deck boards that will slide within it to allow you to completely fill each side, yet be easily removed to allow you to more efficiently process the compost.


As free used wood pallets are abundant, they can be easily replaced when necessary and the old ones actually added to the compost mixture after being left to rot a bit more. NEVER use treated wood for any part of this system.

I’ll leave the set of operating instructions for this device to the expert gardeners of this world.

Till later,

Jerry