If you live with trees, you’re probably blessed with an abundance of leaves every fall. For many people, fallen leaves are just a seasonal nuisance to be disposed of as quickly as possible. Fortunately, savvy gardeners know that using leaf litter is a natural and effective way to protect, feed, and beautify our garden spaces, and it’s free!
Utilizing autumn leaves in our gardens can be as simple as letting them lie where they fall, especially in woodland settings. Undisturbed, the leaves provide not only nourishment for all the varied plant life but also shelter for creatures and overwintering insects. Plus, I happen to love the natural look that leaf mulch creates in my home landscape.
Another way to use fallen leaves is to shred them with a lawn mower for flower bed mulch. These smaller leaf pieces will break down quickly to add nutrients to the soil and won’t suffocate your perennials under their weight. Dry, shredded leaves are incredibly lightweight to carry around and make any mulching chore that much easier!
Want to save your leaves for later use? Whole fallen leaves can be piled up and composted in their own designated spot or added to an existing compost pile. They will break down more slowly than shredded leaves but, over time, you will end up with rich leaf humus – the best garden soil additive around!
Leaf humus is beneficial in the garden as a nourishing soil conditioner, improving aeration and encouraging healthy root development while also aiding in moisture retention throughout the hot and dry summer months.
If you haven’t utilized autumn leaves in the garden before, I urge you to give it a try. Your future garden will thank you!
Our annual routine here, southeast Ireland, is to leave the fallen leaves on the flowerbeds where they fall and to rake and collect those on the grass. I store these to make leafmould which is an especially good addition to soil, or an excellent mulch, where spring bulbs are growing. Snowdrops appreciate them and respojd particularly well.
Thank you, Paddy!
We came upon the idea of mulching of leaves through the lawn mower. I can add we attach the grass catcher to our walk behind mower. I saves us from having to rake.
We do the same thing, Michael! Thank you!