November, the transition month between the fleeting warm days of autumn and the bone-chilling cold of winter, is the month of leaves, and they are now falling all over the place!

The smart gardener finds many uses for these "useless" leaves. First, they can be the botanical fuel for a compost pile, if you have room in your back yard.

To build a compost pile, toss down a 1-foot layer of leaves, sprinkle it with water and a little dirt (which provides bacteria to start the decomposition faster), then add another layer of leaves and more water and dirt. Keep this alternation going until you have a 5- to 6-foot pile, and you are on your way to making compost! Leave the pile alone, or fine-tune it with the following tips:

Quick Tip 1: Ground leaves break down faster, so either chop them in a shredder or run them over with a lawn mower before adding to the pile.

Quick Tip 2: Incorporate green leaves, such as freshly cut lawn grass or water garden plants that are pruned in autumn, to the dry, fallen foliage.

Quick Tip 3: Turn the heap over at least once a month.

Quick Tip 4. Cover the pile with a sheet of plastic to prevent winter rains from cooling the decomposition process and to trap heat from the sun, which will help keep the compost "cooking."

If you want to be rid of the leaves as quick as possible, simply gather them in big plastic leaf bags and set them out on the curb. Your city's weekly trash pickup might take these bundles away (see details), but trash collectors may not even get to the bags. I have seen more than a few organic gardeners prowling streets for extra bags of leaves for compost piles.

But consider keeping a few bags to use as protective winter mulch. Trees and shrubs can benefit from such mulch. This organic covering will help prevent soil erosion that could expose tender bulbs and roots. And it will help retain moisture for the shrubs and trees.

Mulch shrubs and trees as soon as you have a sufficient supply of leaves, but wait until the first real hard freezes to cover bulb beds.

For trees, place the mulch 8 to 10 inches away from the trunks to discourage voles and mice nesting and gnawing on the lower trunks,

Use a 2- to 3-inch layer of leaves on bulb beds and a 4-inch covering around shrubs and young trees. Mulch prevents ground heaving, which can occur during particularly nasty cold spells. The winter sun is weak, but it can still thaw ground that has been frozen the night before. If the cold weather is especially nasty, this alternate freezing and thawing can actually cause the soil to lift up and crack, exposing sleeping bulbs to low, killing temperatures. Mulch prevents this by shielding the beds from the warm rays of the sun.

In permanent beds, place a three- to four-sheet layer of newspaper printed with soybean ink (such as The News & Observer) on the ground before you spread leaves over the area, to add a biodegradable barrier to help fight unwanted weeds.