Enjoying the colorful leaves while they are still on the trees is one thing. But what should you do with the mountains of leaves that fall in your yard? Rake them up or use a leaf blower before they have a chance to accumulate. Raking is more that just grooming your yard. It is an important gardening function. If left on your lawn, a mat of fallen leaves prevents sunlight from reaching the grass and hinders proper air circulation. Remove the leaf cover or it can cause your lawn, especially a newly seeded lawn, to die.

Fallen leaves can also cause harm to certain shrubs. Azaleas can develop a disease called "crown rot" if leaves and debris are allowed to settle inside the structure of the plant. Junipers also tend to turn brown if leaves are allowed to lay on top of the foliage for several weeks.

Put the leaves you have raked to good use. They make an excellent mulch for your planting areas. Take your cue from Mother Nature. She drops the leaves from the trees every fall, providing a natural mulch for the plants in the forests. The effect is the same in your landscape. In the fall and winter, a two to three inch layer of mulch will help to protect plant roots from temperature extremes and also helps to retain moisture in the soil.

Composting is another way that you can convert your leaves into a useful gardening substance. Compost is made up of decomposed woody or herbaceous materials such as pine straw, leaves, grass clippings, shrub trimmings, vegetable refuse and brush. Not only does composting reduce landfill waste, it produces a valuable organic soil amendment. When mixed in with the clay, compost can improve the condition and consistency of your soil.

Before starting a compost pile, select a level area near a water source. Compost piles should be kept damp, but not soggy. Place the materials to be composted into a cylinder made out of chicken wire or into a compost bin with holes or openings around the sides. For best results, incorporate small branches, twigs, woody brush and other coarse materials in the base layer of the compost pile. This will help to provide air circulation. Whenever possible, alternate "green" and "brown" (dried) layers of kitchen refuse and garden debris. Green layers consist of grass clippings, evergreen leaves and vegetable scraps. Brown layers consist of straw, dried leaves and woody brush. Do not include meat, fish, dairy products, grease or fatty foods. These items are slow to decompose and can attract flies and animals. Don't add diseased or insect-infested plant materials or pet wastes to the pile to prevent the spread of harmful organisms. Shredding or cutting up large materials before they are added to the compost pile helps to speed up the decomposition process. Every couple of weeks, the pile should be turned or stirred up and moistened until damp. Turning the materials will allow oxygen to reach the inside of the pile, hastening the formation of compost. The compost is ready to use when it has a dark brown, crumbly texture and an earthy smell.

If it is not possible to use your fallen leaves as mulch or compost, please don't burn them. Ordinances in most metro Atlanta counties prohibit burning. It can be dangerous and adds to our air pollution problem. Instead, dispose of the leaves in a wooded area or put them in bio-degradable paper bags for pick up.