This is a great time to get free soil fertility enhancers delivered to your door — well, to your driveway. Leaf pick-up time also means leaf drop-off time — at least if you live in or near the city of Eugene.

The best way to get leaves for your garden or landscape is to put a rake in your hands and move the leaves in your yard off the lawn and into a pile where they can sit for the winter. I have last year’s leaves in a pile that has turned into wonderful crumbly leaf mold.

I will use it in sheet composts and as a mulch around winter vegetables. As soon as the garlic is a few inches high, the old leaf mold spread around the plants will be a perfect weed stopper (well, slower-downer), and it protects the soil from rain compaction. Your neighbor’s leaves are also a valuable asset for your garden. Once they are on the street, you can grab the piles and bring them home. Or if you are really lucky — I have been — they will bring the leaves to your doorstep or driveway.

A nice pile of brown leaves becomes next year’s free soil fertility enhancer. Credit: John Fischer

Before I go any further, let me assure you that there are no bad leaves. Black walnut leaves will not kill your garden, and pine needles are not acidic once they turn brown.

Mulching with only freshly fallen black walnut leaves could cause tomatoes to do poorly, but once the walnut leaves have broken down over a winter they are fine. And mixed in with other leaves, they can be part of a good leaf mold mulch.

Pine needles are not only fine to throw in your leaf pile, or on your plants, they are a great mulch because of their longevity. A good layer around established plants helps with water retention and weed suppression. The only drawback is their sharp points. Don’t walk in a needle mulched area with bare feet.

As I mentioned earlier, the city of Eugene will deliver leaves — minimum one dump truck load — to your home. Make sure the truck can get in and that you will be able to get out after the leaves are dumped. In Springfield, residents can get information on picking up collected leaves for their personal composting by calling 541-525-2658 or emailing leafpickupprogram@springfield-or.gov.

I mostly get leaves from my yard, and my neighbors’ yards. I know they are clean. A truckload of leaves will often include a few pop bottles, some branches and a paper cup or two. Please, leaf pilers — your pile is for leaves, not trash. And a special message for dog walkers: Please do not throw poop into leaf piles. Put it in the bag and then flush it down the toilet as you have been doing all spring and summer. (Turn the bag inside out, drop the load in the toilet, throw the bag in the trash.)

Saving leaves this fall will give you the mulch you need next summer, and right now gathering leaves is like walking through an art exhibit. The colors are extraordinary, ranging from yellow to red and even purple. The hues will fade over the winter, but the value leaves can give to your garden will remain.