Managing Yard Organic Residue (5013)

In an effort to serve their residents, many municipalities have chosen to continue to collect yard residue. Some only collect yard residue on specially scheduled days. Other communities no longer collect yard residue, but provide sites where residents may drop it off.

Municipalities that collect or accept yard residue either use their own staff and equipment to process it or pay to have it processed at a facility where it is composted and eventually offer it back to the consumer in a variety of forms. Either way, handling it costs money, and that cost will ultimately have to be passed along to residents in the form of higher taxes.

Therefore, as with other forms of solid waste, the only real solution lies in reducing the amount we produce. However, unlike other forms of solid waste, with yard waste we have the option of each managing what we produce. What's more, we can manage it right in our own yards!

Even if you don't compost, by just developing a few new habits, much of what you may now call yard waste will start to look a lot more like rich, organic matter and a valuable resource for use in your yard and garden.

The following are a few simple ways of reducing, reusing, and recycling the organic byproducts of your landscape:

- Reduce lawn areas by planting groundcovers, creating meadow and woodland plantings, grouping shrubs and flowers into mulched beds, or laying stepping stones or gravel in the traffic patterns around your yard. These methods reduce the amount of clippings you produce as well as the amounts of pesticide and fertilizer used.

- Recycle grass clippings by letting them lie, by using them as mulch around other plantings, or by adding them to your compost pile.

- Recycle fall leaves where they lie by mowing over them until they are small enough to see through to the grass, or collect them to use as winter protection for roses and perennial flowers. These, too, can be a valuable ingredient of compost.

- Reuse branches, twigs, and stumps around the yard. Branches serve as trellises to support vines and weak-stemmed perennials. Large-diameter logs cut 18" long and set upright make naturalistic seating. Cut into rounds, they can be used as stepping stones in low or muddy areas. Woody vines are easily reused to make lovely decorations and crafts.

- Reduce debris produced through pruning by selecting plants for their mature size, hardiness, and pest resistance. Plants of the correct size and shape, that are well-adapted to existing conditions and have few insect or disease pests, will require little pruning to remove excessive growth or dead branches. When pruning is necessary, cut stems into small pieces that can be scattered in mulched planting beds and allowed to decompose naturally. Rent or buy a chipper to produce your own wood chip mulch. Any remaining residue can be composted in a pile or bed.

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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