FALLEN LEAVES ... WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THEM?

It's that time of year when our gardens are carpeted with fallen leaves. Do you ignore them, sweep them onto beds, compost them or collect and burn them?

Who would have guessed that the topic of fallen leaves could be so contentious. I casually mentioned in Q&A session at the end of my talk to a garden club that I didn’t clear the leaves from my lawn. Heresy! It seems fallen leaves are a hot topic of debate amongst gardeners.

Looking back to my early years, I can remember my grandfather religiously clearing the fallen leaves from every bed and path in the garden and having a good old bonfire - preferably on a sunny, dry autumn day when our neighbour next-door-but-one had her washing out. Nothing like a bonfire to foster good neighbourly relations!

Needless to say I don’t follow my grandfather’s approach. To me they are tooooo good waste and they most definitely do not go on a bonfire. Apart from the pollution, you are releasing all that sequestered carbon back into the air and wasting valuable nutrients. So not a climate friendly approach.

So do you clear the lawn and beds, or leave them where they fall? What do you do with diseased…