PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - On trash day after the hurricane, I saw there were loads of small branches out to be collected. It’s smart to pick up broken branches from your yard right away so that nobody trips and to keep sticks out of the lawnmower. Many towns recycle tree debris into compost or mulch, but you could also keep a lot of it in your own yard.

Use the leafy parts to start a compost pile if you don’t have one already – then add autumn leaves, grass clippings, dead perennial stalks and spent annuals as the fall goes by.

Snap up smaller twigs and branches to use as kindling for your fireplace this winter.

Use long, straighter branches as garden poles to tie up your tomatoes next year – just snip off all the little side twigs and stand the bare branches in your garage to dry.

Larger logs can be sawed to size and stacked to dry for future firewood. And other odd branches and bits can be chipped and set aside to age – giving you free mulch to put around trees and shrubs next year.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio