Sustainable Fall Home Idea

The weather is cooling down along with home market prices. Construction projects in the home remodeling industry seem to be carrying on just fine. While it’s business as usual for construction around Denver, we at Sustainable Design Build wanted to break up the noise and offer sustainable fall home ideas. These simple activities are a great way to relax and still be constructive with the goal of being more responsible for our environment.

Composting Leaves From Your Yard

The cooler weather will be coming in soon and Colorado’s colors will begin to change. As always, it’s quite the event to go view the leaves change in the mountains or simply enjoy your own backyard’s transformation. But all those autumn leaves that fall in your yard are not down with their job. These fallen leaves are a great source of nutrient-rich materials that can be used for your garden’s soil! Fallen leaves make an excellent habitat for pollinators and beneficial insects. Composting your leaves instead of throwing them out can save you money and even benefit your garden next year. Save on in-store fertilizers and compost solutions by starting your very own fall leaves compost supply.

Why leaves are important for a landscape and garden

Leaves can be a home for the smaller friends in your garden. Yes, mainly the creepy crawling variety benefit but that is ok. Fall leaves can become a valuable habitat for native bee species, spiders, and more. So if there is a spot in the yard homeowners have that can house a pile of leaves without being in the way, it’s the perfect opportunity. Some gardeners do this and even go as far as covering the raked leaf pile with a tarp or drop cloth. Putting this all in the corner of a yard creates an inconspicuous and less obtrusive habitat.

How to compost leaves as your sustainable fall home idea

Instead of gathering all the leaves and leaving them in a pile for the winter, homeowners can go a few more steps to creating a beneficial compost heap. Using a leaf shredder or mulcher will help make the compositing process happen much more efficiently. In addition, you can add grass clippings and other organic materials found throughout your yard’s maintenance. Grass clippings, coffee grounds, vegetable scraps, green plant cuttings, and fruit are all good candidates for adding a nitrogen element to your compost.

The next step to composting your fall leaves is figuring out the best way to store them. Storing your compost in a bin or bins are the ideal solution. As mentioned earlier, you can also simply push the leaves into a pile and cover them with a tarp. But an important factor in the composting process is allowing the material to gain moisture. When stored in bins, the organic material can use that moisture to carry on the decomposition process. (Pro tip: make sure your bins or pile are away from view or anything that needs to stay dry, as the moisture can sometimes leak out).

Finally, the last step is a maintenance-based one. Homeowners can’t simply leave a decaying pile of leaves to their own devices, they need to be cared for. You should turn the compost heap (tumble it) every two weeks. Using a pitchfork or a shovel, turn the bottom layer up and mix the top layer in. This will keep the moisture level relatively even and encourage more even levels of decay. It can also help prevent leaves from matting or forming clumps that won’t allow air to flow and will hold moisture in.

Sustainably Responsible On or Off the job

Sustainable Design Build may be a builder here in Denver but we never want to stray away from offering options and insights to being more eco-friendly. It can be difficult to match client needs, budgets, and goals with sustainable design-build practices. So simple tasks that can be done to celebrate your home during certain seasons are a great option. If you have a great sustainable fall home idea, please let us know so that we can share it! On the other hand, if you are interested in the available options SDB has to build in a sustainably responsible way reach out to us whenever!