End-of-Season Composting Tips for Denver Backyard Gardeners
As we wrap up the gardening season in Denver, it's the perfect time to focus on composting. Composting is a fantastic way to keep your garden soil rich and healthy, reduce waste, and get ready for next year’s growing season. For backyard gardeners in Denver, there are specific ways to approach composting for optimal results in our dry, high-altitude climate.
Plus, if you’re looking to dispose of leftover pumpkins, Auntie M's Garden is a pumpkin drop-off location in SE Denver. We ensure that suitable pumpkins are sent to local farmers for animal feed, while the rest are composted, giving new life to these autumn favorites!
What you’ll learn:
Why Composting is Key for Denver Gardens
End-of-Season Composting Tips for Denver Gardeners
How to Dispose of Pumpkins Responsibly
Why Composting Benefits Your Garden and the Environment
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Why Composting is Key for Denver Gardens
Cleaning Up Your Denver Garden
Denver’s unique climate requires thoughtful soil management to keep gardens thriving year after year. Our high elevation, semi-arid conditions, and temperature fluctuations can lead to nutrient depletion and compacted soil.
Composting at the end of the season replenishes your garden with the organic matter it needs to retain moisture, resist erosion, and support healthy plant growth come spring.
End-of-Season Composting Tips for Denver Gardeners
Here’s how you can make the most of composting in Denver’s climate as you put your garden to bed for winter.
1. Gather and Chop Garden Debris
Fall cleanup provides plenty of organic material for composting, but not everything should go into your compost pile. Here’s what to include:
Safe to Compost: Fallen leaves, grass clippings, healthy plant trimmings, and kitchen scraps.
Avoid: Diseased plants, weeds that have gone to seed, and anything treated with pesticides or herbicides.
Chop larger plant debris and leaves into smaller pieces to speed up the breakdown process. Smaller particles break down more quickly, which is especially helpful in colder months when decomposition slows.
Fallen Leaves in Denver, Colorado
2. Balance Your Green and Brown Materials
Composting relies on a balance of “greens” (nitrogen-rich materials) and “browns” (carbon-rich materials). Here are some easy sources of each:
Greens: Grass clippings, kitchen scraps (like vegetable peels and coffee grounds), fresh plant trimmings.
Browns: Fallen leaves, straw, dead garden plants, small branches, and shredded newspaper or cardboard.
For Denver’s dry climate, keep a little extra "green" material on hand. Nitrogen helps accelerate the breakdown process and gives your compost a boost of heat as it decomposes, which is especially helpful during cooler weather.
3. Water Consistently (But Not Too Much)
Denver’s semi-arid climate means moisture is essential for composting. Without enough water, compost will dry out and decomposition will slow. Aim to keep your compost pile as moist as a wrung-out sponge—damp, but not soggy.
Tip: Covering your compost pile with a tarp can help retain moisture and protect it from drying winds or snow. If the pile gets too dry, add water or more “green” materials to help balance moisture levels.
4. Turn the Pile Regularly
By late fall, if you have fully decomposed compost ready, spread a layer over your garden beds. This adds nutrients to the soil, improves structure, and helps retain moisture. Layering compost in the fall allows it to settle into the soil over the winter, preparing it for spring planting.
Read Next: What Goes in A Home Compost Bin? Compost Materials
Dispose of your pumpkins with auntie m!
After Halloween, don’t throw those pumpkins in the trash! Auntie M’s Garden in SE Denver is a pumpkin drop-off location where we ensure the pumpkins are put to good use. Here’s what we do:
Animal Feed: Pumpkins that are still suitable for animals are delivered to local farmers to help feed their livestock. This not only reduces waste but supports our farming community.
Composting: Pumpkins that can’t be used as feed are composted at Auntie M’s, turning them into rich organic matter to benefit gardens in the coming year.
So, if you have leftover pumpkins, bring them by and let’s put them to good use!
Why Composting Benefits Your Garden and the Environment
By composting instead of sending organic waste to the landfill, you’re helping reduce methane emissions and lower your environmental impact. Compost enriches the soil, improving its structure, water retention, and nutrient levels. For Denver gardeners, composting provides an affordable, sustainable way to keep your soil healthy and ready for planting.
End-of-season composting is a simple yet powerful way to prepare your Denver garden for next year while reducing waste. And don’t forget to take advantage of our pumpkin drop-off at Auntie M’s Garden to recycle those festive pumpkins!
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Meet the Gardener
I’m Elisa Mack - a mom and Denverite who went from being a green-ish thumb to a kitchen garden fanatic simply by dedicating myself to the study of all things Colorado gardening.
Landscapers don’t design. And nurseries don’t make house calls.
We take a more full-service approach, from designing your dream garden to keeping it beautiful year-round.
And as your coach, I’ll help eliminate the guesswork through every season, no matter your level of knowledge.
