IN THE Take a leaf...
In his brilliant new column, Alan Titchmarsh explains how what seems like an autumn nuisance can be turned into garden gold
Fallen leaves are a constant nuisance in autumn gardens – they clog ponds, clutter corners of patios, make paths slippery, and smother tiny treasures growing on raised beds and rock features.
If left for long, a blanket of dead leaves can even turn your lawn yellow.
Leaves need raking up regularly during autumn and early winter.
But instead of burning them or going to the hassle of dumping them at the tip, turn them into leaf mould – a valuable free resource that’s worth its weight in gold.
COLLECTING LEAVES
Gather leaves that accumulate on top of small plants by hand to prevent damage. Do this every day or two so plants aren’t killed by fungal disease or a lack of light.
A rubber rake is the very best tool for gathering leaves from lawns, paths and paving, but a spring- tined lawn rake or even an ordinary garden rake can be used instead. If you like power tools, use a leaf blower to huff leaves into heaps.
Clear fallen leaves once a week through the autumn, and continue in early winter if leaves blow into your garden from the street. Large
plastic grabbers ( like extended hands with long fingers) make it easy to lift piles of leaves all in one go, into a wheelbarrow, sack or tarpaulin.
MAKE LEAF MOULD
If you have only a few leaves, mix them up with other ingredients and throw them on to your compost heap.
For larger quantities it pays to compost fallen leaves separately. Most deciduous leaves take a year to become good leaf mould.
Beech and oak leaves contain more tannin and take two years to rot down properly, so if you have large quantities of these, keep them separate from other leaves.
The sack method
Pack the leaves into large perforated black bin liners as you collect them.
If they are dry, dampen them with a hose first.
Tie the necks of the bags, stab them with a fork to let in a little air, and stack them somewhere out of the way while they rot down.
The cage method
Make a leaf mould cage. Hammer four 150cm wooden posts into the ground to form a square, measuring a yard in each direction.
Tack wire netting around all four sides. Tip fallen leaves into the cage as you collect them, dampen thoroughly and tread down well.
Cover the top of the heap with a sheet of plastic to speed up the rotting time. Keep adding new layers until the supply of leaves runs out, then cap the heap with an inch- deep layer of soil.
USING LEAF MOULD
Leaf mould’s properties make it invaluable for gardening. It’s a good source of fibre that helps soil retain moisture and improve drainage. That makes it especially good as a soil improver where you want to grow choice dwarf bulbs or unusual woodland plants, and for alpine plants in raised beds.
It’s also a favourite ingredient ( along with loam and grit) for making specialist composts mixed by enthusiasts for growing alpines in containers.
You can also use leaf mould to enrich soil in raised beds, rock features, the veg patch and your usual compost in patio containers.
When used in pots or other containers it’s best to pass leaf mould through a riddle or large garden sieve to remove twigs and other coarse material first.