In January Annapolis adopted new guidelines for yard waste collection. If your household doesn’t have one yet, you can pick up a 64-gallon yard waste recycling cart (935 Spa Road, 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.). Here’s a recap of the new guidelines as well as information on using your own leaves and clippings as compost and mulch.
From the Annapolis Public Works website:
- Yard waste includes grass, leaves, tree limbs and branches from your yard. no dirt, sod, gravel, rocks, flower pots, broken tools, or trash.
- Yard waste should be placed in your green City yard waste cart, with overflow placed in paper bags or containers marked with an “X” or in bundles.
- Containers and bags must weigh less than 50 pounds.
- Bundles should be no longer than 2 feet by 4 feet in size. Tie branches, vines and brush together with natural fiber rope or twine so that they can be picked up as a bundle. no branches may be larger than 4 inches in diameter.
Composting
Composting reduces the volume of degradable materials by 70 to 80%. It’s the most practical and convenient way to handle your yard wastes. It’s easier and cheaper than bagging wastes and hauling them to the street. Some of the best materials are grass clippings, leaves and vegetable peelings – the very items you’d normally have hauled away. What’s left is a rich, crumbly mixture that is excellent for “amending” soils, mulching plants, trees and shrubs, and providing garden nutrients (reducing the need for costly peat moss, mushroom compost, etc.). Read more
Leaves
Leaves are another garden secret. Composted, they are a source of “brown” materials; shredded, they can be used as mulch (leaves and chipped brush and twigs can be used as mulch around the bottoms of trees and plants. Mulch holds moisture so you won’t have to water plants as often. It also controls weeds and keeps plants from freezing when temperatures drop). In wooded areas, where they should be left on the ground, they provide nutrients and retain moisture.