Horticultural aide memoire Make leafmould

Most of the leaves have fallen from deciduous trees by now. Cease rejoicing in the lovely pattern they make on the lawn and start raking them up. Exclude evergreen leaves, as these make poor-quality leafmould. As the piles form, shovel them up and barrow them away. They can either be added to the compost heap or banked up to form leafmould. In that case, simply heap them against a wall and let Nature take its course. In a year’s time, the heap will have shrunk and formed organic matter of lovely quality, odourless, friable and ready to improve your soil. SCD