Dear MOTHER
“Don’t pass on the old stuff; using it makes work fun.”
EDITORS’ PICK
Leaf Litter Success
Upon receiving my latest issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS, my eyes were immediately drawn to the cover article about using leaf litter as organic fertilizer (“Leaf Litter to the Rescue: Free Fertilizer from Your Backyard,” August/September 2022). I’m not allowed to have a regular garden where I live — though I have had a container garden — but I do have a few camellia shrubs planted by the previous owner. I love the flowers that bloom every late February and early March. (I live in north-central Georgia, so they probably bloom later the farther north they grow.) The plants stayed small until I raked leaves to the bases of them. I have sweet-gum and pine trees in my yard, and I was amazed at the difference in my camellias’ growth. In just one year, my little shrubs doubled their height and had a lot more of the beautiful pink flowers! Now, years later, my “shrubs” are taller than my roof! I don’t use any fertilizer other than leaf and pine needle litter, and I no longer have to water the plants,
