There are a lot of leaves outside my window, and I’m guessing your view might be similar. This carpet of dead foliage is often viewed as a nuisance, but it can be an important component in the garden .

I’ll push a 3-inch (7.6-centimeter) layer of them into beds and borders to serve as root-protecting and insect-sheltering winter mulch. When they decompose, they’ll also add nutrients to the soil, which will fortify my plants in spring.

Others will make it into the compost pile , which, along with food scraps, weeds and spent annuals and perennials, will cook into what we gardeners call “black gold.” But there’s another use for fallen leaves that might have escaped your notice: leaf mold .

The benefits of leaf mold

Simpler than compost but similarly beneficial , leaf mold cont

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