—Tom Smarr, Former Horticulture & Botanic Garden Director

A leaf column fence is an innovative and inexpensive way to compost your leaves and create a private garden room. Place your columns in a line to form a boundary or focal point.

In the fall, fill your columns in the with leaves, top them off in the spring, and by mid-summer, the bottom half of your column will provide you with abundant compost. Simply tip the column on its side and remove the compost from the bottom.  

Keep in mind that as the leaves in your fence decompose, they will settle. Therefore, if you're using your fence for privacy, you'll want to reserve a pile of leaves to refill the columns a couple times over the summer. If you choose not to empty your columns but continue to refill them, you will create a living fence, which an array of creatures will call home. 

Tools

Needle-nose pliers, wire cutters that can cut heavy gauge wire, and heavy protective gloves

Materials

Wire fencing. Try green light wire fencing, heavier silvercolored fencing, or chicken wire. For variety, choose different heights of fencing. Standard sizes will create 3-, 4-, and 6-foot-tall columns.

Any kind of leaves 

Construction

1. Cut a 4- to 6-foot length of fencing using the wire cutters. A longer piece makes a broader column. Be sure to leave wire ends to bend around for the next steps.

2. Roll the fencing loosely so the cut end meets the opposite side.

3. Using the pliers, bend the loose ends of the wire around the other end of the fencing to create a seam. Use short lengths of extra wire if you do not have enough wire ends to join the two edges securely all along the seam.

4. Stand the column up in place. Insert several tent stakes (foot-long metal stakes available at sporting goods and outdoor stores) to secure the bottom of the column to the ground.

5. Fill the open end of the column with leaves, packing them in slightly. Since, the leaves will decompose and settle, you will need to add extra leaves from time to time.

6. Pull out the stakes and tip the column over to remove the composted leaves. Save the column for reuse.

Practical and decorative, your unique leaf column fence will also serve as a conversation as well as a conservation piece.

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This article originally appeared in the spring/summer 2007 issue of New England Wild Flower Journal.

The Society would like to credit Britt Schlinke of Austin, Texas, for the leaf column idea and thank him for allowing us to share it.