Leaf clearing advice, please.

It's one of those tasks at this time of year which feels never ending! No sooner have you cleared one lot then the next lot is settling behind you

So, as leaves seem (to me anyway) to be natures winter mulch, what are the pro's and cons of just leaving them on the borders?

Thank you

 

The worms will drag them under if you do that

But they can only manage so many. Bit like us trying to eat something the size of a bedsheet

 

I collect with a rake or by lawnmower, chuck them in wire cage and wait............

If left mine just blow all over the place sticking to paving going in pond etcetc.

Will be adding compost maker to the cage again this year and some grass clippings too

 

I mow up mine and put on the veg garden for the worms

 

Although I dont have many leaves to clear anymore, normally I just rake them off the grass and leave them under whatever they fell of. The way I see it, they are the plants own natural fertiliser.

 

I think it's mostly fine to leave them on the borders around your shrubs M, as they will improve the soil as they break down and get taken in by the worms. I try to leave them on my borders in an effort to improve the moisture retention of my very dry, sandy soil.

There are one or two exceptions though, where it's probably better not to leave them on the borders:

• In areas where you have herbaceous perennials growing. A deep covering of leaves may smother some of the more delicate perennials, making it difficult for them to grow back again in the spring. In addition, some perennials will rot and die if they become too wet during winter.
• Early flowering bulbs, such as aconites, snowdrops and crocuses will not appreciate being under a deep carpet of leaves, so if you have any of these in your borders it's probably best to clear the leaves from those areas.
• Around any plants which are susceptible to slug and snail damage, as a carpet of leaves can harbour plenty of the marauding molluscs.

 

Thank you, great advice and much appreciated

In short: clear your bliddy leaves up "M"

 

We are sort of up to our proverbials with fallen leaves atm. I was in the process of going to chuck out 1 of those enormous bags that builders merchants and the like use for delivering gravel etc when I had a good (this isn't, unfortunately, a regular occurrence these days). Rather than MANY trips to the compost department with the wheelbarrow stuffed with leaves and sporting "greedy boards" I used the massive bag to blow the leaves into and then when full dragged it to the compost making area. Worked a treat and certainly sped up the process. We've got about 3/4 of our leaves down now so 1 more big go at them and that should be it for this season. The autumn colours have been spectacular, possibly the best i can ever remember so worth a bit of mess and will have splendid leaf mould in 2 years from the leaves just collected.

 

I use a "Builders Tonne Bag" to collect them in, leave them in it till I am sure they are quite wet. My next action is to pack 'em into black bin liners, knot the top when full and transfer them to the compost area where they will wait their turn to be used in two years time.

Last spring, product of a previous years leaf moulld was used successfully in making all my seed & potting compost.

 

I fill the chicken coop with leaves. The girls enjoy scratching them to bits and a few months later, I have nice crumbly compost. But most of my leaves I just leave them be. We have 8 acres and I just let them blow and pile up. Our soil is sand, like beach sand, so it needs the humus from the leaves. Worms? I think I need to go buy some and "plant" them!!

 

I collect many of mine, preferably wet and place in builders dumpy bags and leave to rot behind the compost heap. Like Shiney I can't leave too many for the slugs to shelter in.

 

My garden is covered with leaves from neighbouring trees, will start collecting when weather allows, I know I have a couple of those big bags in the shed somewhere.

 

When we lived in town, our next door neighbor lady paid the young boys across the street to rake her leaves. I paid them $20 to bring them all to me. My poor long suffering husband nearly had a heart attack when he came home to Leaf Mountain. The boys filled the chicken coop and run and made a huge pile on the side of the yard. Then I convinced my husband go to the horse pasture with me and scoop a pickup truck load of poop. We mixed it with Leaf Mountain, plus lime, then let it set a couple of months. I watered it regularly.

I planted potatoes in it and got the biggest, prettiest potatoes ever! He quit griping about the leaves.....