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Circle of Life -- Horn Lake Starts Composting Leaves Received From Area Residences In Spring, City Plans to Use Half Itself, Offer the Rest to Homeowners

Posted on: Friday, 27 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By William C Bayne / bayne@desotoappealcom

Three DeSoto County Jail trustys worked for more than two hours Wednesday opening bags of leaves and pine needles for Horn Lake's composting project.

"We've really had excellent initial response," said Bettie Pruitt, the city's urban forester. "Eventually, I would like to have a 5-acre site where we would compost not only leaves and grass clippings, but where we could also keep hardwood chips and pine bark and chips."

Altogether, she said the trustys opened and spread more than 250 large trash bags of leaves and pine needles Wednesday.

Once they were spread, Pruitt had them douse the materials with a mixture of liquid potash and fertilizer that had been dissolved in about 40 gallons of water.

"You always need some starter influence, but then Mother Nature takes over," she said. "By the time we start planting trees and flowers in the spring, we will have some good, clean compost to use around the plantings."

Spencer 'Penny' Shields, public works director, said the greatest savings to the city, so far, has been that he did not have to use city crews to pick up the leaves.

Longer term, however, he said he's glad that the leaves and pine needles collected won't show up in the city's storm sewer system.

"Those are two good things that can come of this, I'll say that, definitely," he said.

Within minutes after the trustys completed their work, Don Harrison drove up in a sport utility vehicle and quickly unloaded eight large bags of leaves.

"I'll have a few more bags tomorrow," he said. "I'm just glad that the city is finally trying to do something with them. I hate to see all that stuff put in a landfill."

Pruitt said the collection point will also take grass clippings when lawns start turning green again in the spring.

"Well, I'll have some grass clippings, too," Harrison said.

Pruitt said that while leaves and pine needles will decompose into mulch, a much better composting mixture is possible with the addition of lawn clippings.

"Brown (leaves and pine needles) will break down, but a brown and green mix is a much better recipe for the best composting," she said.

The collection point for leaves, pine needles and lawn clippings is just outside the Public Works complex at the south end of East Center Street. Bags of materials may be dropped off there seven days a week.

Plans call for the city to use about half the compost for its tree plantings, flower beds and the like, with the rest to be made available to homeowners who want to use the material to improve flower beds, gardens and lawn dressings.

- William C. Bayne: (901) 333-2012

Source: Commercial Appeal, The

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