Beginner's question (probably stupid) about leaves

Hi everybody,
My garden is surrounded by trees so spends most of the autumn/winter covered in leaves.
We usually wait until all the leaves have fallen before clearing from paths, but this year left it a bit late.

Should I be clearing all the leaves clogging up my plants and beds? Or should I leave them to provide a kind of mulch protection from frost and weed seedlings?

Should I be clearing them more often, ie. before the winter?

all advice unashamedly appreciated as I am total and quite definitely not green fingered newbie!

thanks

 

Hi Moonboots. You could leave the leaves on the beds as a mulch but the problem is, they take a long time to break down, which is why you're advised not to add them to the compost heap. Also, they get very soggy and slimy in the rain and can harbour all sorts of nasties. In addition they won't form a deep enough mulch to suppress weeds so that's no help.

I'm afraid that my advice is to carefully rake them up, trying not to disturn any shoots that might be poking through. I have to say that there seem to be an awful lot more leaves this winter. I think it's best to begin as soon as you can although I'm still clearing them up in a large estate I look after, and I started in October!

If you'd like to make leaf mould, which is a good soil improver, you can either let them rot down in a wire mesh "cage" or put them in black sacks with a few hole punched in. (There's lots of detailed information on the web on how to do this).

Good luck! Chris

 

hoohoo! I must be learning!
I cleared most of the leaves yesterday, and the ones that I cleared last year are rotting nicely in a black sack. Most of them go back into the woodland next door.

Thanks for the advice and for making me feel much better about the small amount of leaves I have compared with you!

 

I would agree with what Boghopper has said. However I don't think they do a lot of harm. I suspect that the desire to remove them is as much aesthetic as anything else.

I would also agree with putting them in a bin bag to compost. In fact you can do that with almost all garden refuse. But as leaves take longer to break down I try to put them in a different bag from the green stuff.

 

Have to confess that we only collect up the leaves which fall on the grass and paths, not the ones on the soil. Often use the leaf blower and just blow them off the paths on to the beds. Never had any trouble with an increase in nasties by doing that.

 

I completely disagree with Peter S and Boghopper!

I always leave my leaves on the borders. It's what nature does, after all, and nature knows what it's doing! If they start to go slimey on the surface, I simply fork them lightly into the soil. There is no better soil conditioner.

If you are precious about your lawn it's better to clear them off it, though. Just sweep 'em onto your borders instead!

 

I do the same as Palustris and just scatter the leaves from the paths and lawn on top of the borders. I think it is as had been said - before purely aesthetic to clear them from the beds.

 

It sounds like it's a decision based on the kind of garden you have.

If you love the wildlife in your garden, and like the natural 'rough around the edges' look then leave them on the beds.

If you like things pristine and in tip top condition, rake 'em up.

I personally like the natural beauty look, and the wonderful birds raking through my beds.

 

I'm definitely the wildlife friendly, rough around the edges kind!
But there are so many leaves I was worried my spring shoots might think it's permanent night time!!!

 

Your spring shoots will be fine and you can always rake the leaves away when it gets warmer.

I tend to remove leaves mainly to give the multitudes of slugs I seem to have less places to hide.

 

The thousands of snowdrops in our Damson Wood grow in a mixture of leaf mould and broken glass. The leaves which drop from the trees break down very quickly and add a very thin layer of covering each year.
Slugs in leaf litter are actually doing more good than harm. They eat the decaying leaves. Snails on the other hand....................

 

The thousands of snowdrops in our Damson Wood grow in a mixture of leaf mould and broken glass. The leaves which drop from the trees break down very quickly and add a very thin layer of covering each year.
Slugs in leaf litter are actually doing more good than harm. They eat the decaying leaves. Snails on the other hand....................

 

Interesting Palustris, I didn't know that slugs ate decaying leaves. I will treat them with more compassion now, when I kill them. :D

 

Hmmmm, in that case why do I find slugs all over my tender, re-emerging perennials happily chewing through the leaves in Spring, when I go out to investigate in the dark?