August can turn a garden into a leafy crime scene. Tomatoes have sprawled across paths, zucchini leaves have swallowed nearby plants, spent flowers have piled up, and the hedge suddenly looks like it needs its own postal code. Before stuffing all those clippings into bags for the curb, take a closer look because much of that garden debris can still serve a useful purpose.
Those stems, leaves, grass clippings, and spent plants contain organic material that can return to the garden instead of making a one-way trip out of it. The trick involves knowing which scraps work where, because a diseased tomato vine belongs nowhere near a prized compost pile, while a pile of clean leaves can become garden gold. August cleanup can become less about getting rid of stuff and more about putting useful material in the right place.
