Rather than bagging up all those autumn leaves here are a few practical tips about how you can make use of those fallen leaves and benefit your garden at the same time:
Use them for compost – leaves are great for adding to your compost material. They provide a rich high-carbon material which adds to the quality. Ideally chopped or shredded, you can add your leaves to grass clippings, fruit and veg scraps, plant debris etc and with the occasional turning of the pile it will turn into useful compost for future planting.
Mow over them – this couldn’t be simpler. Set the wheels on your mower to their highest setting and mow over the leaves on your lawn. This will break them down and provide your soil with good nutrients. Doing this once a week will mean less lawn feeds later and it will actually improve the look of your lawn in the long run.
Turn them into leaf mould – if you use some of your leaves with layers of garden soil and compost and leave it for 12 months it will turn into leaf mould which is a fantastic soil amendment which is perfect for vegetable and flower gardens as wells as potting plants.
Make some mulch – if you can shred your leaves then you can use them as mulch for vegetable gardens, flower beds, around trees and shrubs and for container gardens. The mulch will help the soil retain moisture and keep it cool. This helps to keep weed growth down and adds important nutrients to the soil.
So there you have it. Put down that rake, maybe invest in a leaf shredder, and put your leaves to practical use. It makes a lot more sense than bagging them up and leaving them to the refuse collectors!
For more gardening tips and assistance with your gardening tasks please get in touch. We would be happy to help.
