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Leaves (lots of them)

guttiesgutties Posts: 224
in Problem solving
This isn't a problem to be solved per se, more just a rambling by me!

My garden is bordered by a substantial planting of mature trees.  Although this makes for a lovely backdrop I am absolutely tortured with leaves in the autumn time.  This, combined with the fact that my garden is a very heavy (and wet) clay meant that I never bothered much about gardening before this year.  I thought it was just too difficult to do anything with it.

Anyway, I made an effort this year and began planting shrubs and perennials from around May with the result that the garden is beginning to take shape, but I really look forward to seeing what it's like in a year or two's time.

Anyway, here is the backdrop of just some of the large trees:
You can see a few small trees and other bits and pieces that I have planted this year in the foreground.
The area closest to the trees is the very wet clay soil, and walking on it results in large deep footprints, so that's almost impossible to work with.  Those trees are on the eastern side of the garden and so ensure that that portion of the garden is in shade for most of the day (especially at this time of the year).  I've planted wet ground wildflower seeds towards the end of August, so I'll see what happens there.

You can see that all the leaves still look to be on the trees, however, here are the leaves that have been cleared up so far this autumn:


Just wondering if leaves are as big a problem for many others?  Obviously not clearing the leaves will kill the lawn, so hours and hours are spent over the autumn / winter clearing them.

On the bright side I'm looking forward to seeing what sort of leafmold I can make (as this is the first year I've collected the leaves like this.
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  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Leaves are anything but " a problem " ..They're a gift from the gardening Gods.
     They make the most fabulous compost when mixed with grass clippings, or , left on their own , leafmould.
    Devon.
  • guttiesgutties Posts: 224
    I know leaves are good, I just physically couldn't bag all the leaves that fall onto my garden!
    And the volume of them makes the whole exercise a chore.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Offer them on freecyle? " bring a bag and help yourself" kinda thing?
    If you can get a mower behind the shrubs you could leave off the grass box and just mow them into the ground and let the worms deal with them. Once they're shredded, they're less likely to blow about. They'd do wonders for the clay soil. 
    Devon.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    From the photo , it looks like you have beech trees which IMHO make the most FAB compost.
    Devon.
  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    I have two large compost bays pallet sized where the leaves are mixed with other composted material great compost, I also make a heap of leaves on their own it makes good potting material when mixed with garden soil for perennials on pots.
  • guttiesgutties Posts: 224
    Hostafan1 said:
    From the photo , it looks like you have beech trees which IMHO make the most FAB compost.
    Yep. The whole site is covered in beech leaves!

    Does that not therefore make it a little strange that my garden is so claybound and wet?  Imagine the tonnes of beech leaves that would have fallen on the site over decades, yet the soil seems to be anything but improved.
    I know that's gone off on a tangent, but it just came into my head.
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    Do you have a grass box on your mower? Lots of people 'mow' over them to shred and collect the fallen leaves before adding them to the pile.
    Nice cage BTW👍.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I mow the leaves up before adding to "bins" . A lot of your bin is fresh air.
    Mowing them up first means you'll get a lot more in there and the increased surface areas speeds up decomposition.
    Devon.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I'm wondering why it should be so wet underneath the trees - are you near a river or is it low-lying ground?  I might be tempted (if affordable) to get someone in to lay a few tons of gravel underneath the trees to make it easier to walk on and/or employ somebody to come in once a week or so with a blower/shredder while the leaves are falling. It looks like you could do with more than one bin too. The other solution would be to just blow the leaves in a big heap and then cover it with chicken wire.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    I think the healthiness of the trees speaks for itself. I'd not worry about the soil, clearly the trees aren't worried.
    Devon.
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