shredding the leaves like yeah

November 9, 2018

Note: this post is not sponsored or affiliated. I bought this shredder and love it so much I can’t help but share all the good things about it.

I am upping my compost game. Yes!

With my brand new Black & Decker leaf blower/shredder. I first mentioned my new toy on the blog back at the beginning of October, when I provided some ways to make garden cleanup fun. Well, now that we have some leaves on the ground, I busted that baby out and went to town. This tool makes easy work of shredding leaves for compost. More on that later.

Leaves are one of the best, if not the very best, thing you can use to amend your soil. They contain an abundance of minerals that will enrich your soil and keep your plants happy. They also help improve soil structure. If your soil is heavy clay (like ours is!), the shredded leaves can help turn the unworkable clay into a nice medium by providing aeration.

Many sources rate shredded leaves above any other compost material, including manure. They are nature’s original compost. Think of a deciduous forest and all that rich, dark soil that makes up the forest floor. Over years and decades, the fallen leaves, with help from decomposers such as earthworms, fungi, and bacteria, are largely responsible for this.

Keep in mind that in order for leaves to be the most effective in your garden, they need to be shredded or ground up prior to adding them to your compost pile or soil; otherwise, they will just stay matted down and have a much harder time decomposing. Here are a couple of good articles on how to compost leaves:
http://compostguide.com/using-leaves-for-composting/
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/…/in…/composting-leaves.htm

So, back to the new leaf blower – I fired it up for the first time, just last week.

Purchased it back in August and have been eagerly awaiting those leaves to come down. I have to say, it was fun and addictive! It was like vacuuming, but for your yard. Instant results!

This model is a three in one: blower, vacuum, and mulcher. With the 12-amp motor, vacuum attachment, and zippered bag that attaches, in no time flat, I had shredded 3 bags of leaves to spread on my soil for decomposition over the winter.

There are 2 speeds, the lower one for more delicate areas, such as areas where you don’t want to vacuum up your plants, and the faster one for heavy-duty work. Here are all the parts, right out of the box. The skinny tube assembly, along the bottom of the photo, is the blower attachment. The larger tubing is the vacuum.