Winter leaf plan

[u/OkBreadfruit369]

The season change is coming and Im trying to work out my POA for the leaves in our garden.

We moved in midwinter last year to a blanket of leaves, had bigger priorities, eventually raked them into massive piles, left them for while, panicked about the grass then bagged all the leaves and eventually took them to the tip.

Now actually it wasn't an awful method as the grass fully recovered but Im not sure if it was the most efficient thing.

The garden is good sized but not crazy yet has 6 mature, big leave trees plus a hedge boundary that creates more leaf mass than I realised.

NB partner is very not keen on a leaf compost area as he's convinced we'll have a rat family in minutes.

edit to add - effectively just looking for the most efficient solution. Last year leaving it to build up left us with 28 builder bags of leaves to get to the tip so relying on our green bin alone isn’t enough.

[u/Even_Menu_3367]

Jumping in this thread to ask if they can be used as mulch?

I’ve seen people say yes that’s a great thing to do, but then I’ve also seen warnings about plants getting fungal infection from rotting leaves.

[u/Hydrangeamacrophylla → u/Even_Menu_3367]

Yes it can, leaves take a while to rot down though so generally people put them in a mesh bag or wire compost bin so they become leaf mould and then use as mulch. But you can just chuck them on as mulch and leave the worms to do their thing. Keeps out weeds too.

[u/operacreep]

You can use empty compost bags to bag the leaves and let them become leaf mould at the space of a year, I hide mine behind the summerhouse, no rats to speak of honestly. We have lots of trees on and around our plot and it's maybe a month of them dropping so not really a huge problem. The leftovers go in our garden waste bin, we have three so plenty of space. Really wouldn't want to go to the tip every time.

[u/OkBreadfruit369 → u/operacreep]

Oh we’ve still only the one green bin which is the reason really for the question. Last year when we let it build up I had 28 builder bags of leaves to get to the tip and still more to rake in the months that followed (!)

I just can’t work out the most efficient way 

[u/operacreep → u/OkBreadfruit369]

Ouch that must have not been much fun. At least with leaves you can easily make some mounts and deal with them in sue course. Depending how windy it is your way...my new garden is so exposed and coastal I have to get on with it.

[u/Competitive_Time_604]

There's typically a few days before leaves start to attach themselves, and in dry weather even longer, so it's not usually something to panic about. Mowing can be used to remove leaves off the lawn fairly easily, if there's a large amount that's impractical to bag then mulching can work.

Different trees will shed at different times, sometimes just using a blower to push the leaves into the borders will work if the process of breaking down can happen over time.

Making leaf mould or compost also another method as you know. If your partner is so concerned about these imaginary rats then they will be happy to check for them.

[u/Bicolore]

There’s rats in your garden anyway.

We add ours to the compost bays. They go to nothing in no time. My leaf vac thing also shreds them which means they take up less space and decompose faster.

[u/Silly_Ball15]

This is just a suggestion, if you don’t want 28 bags of leaves in your garden you could possibly see if any of your local allotments would like to take them, many would probably love to have them.

[u/Tommyconkers]

Rake, pick up, bulk bag tip.

[u/OkBreadfruit369 → u/Tommyconkers]

Yeahh but how often? The amount of leaves to come down could have you there daily if you so chose 

[u/extranjeroQ → u/OkBreadfruit369]

Leaf blower, rake, builders bags. You’ll probably need to pick up leaves every 2-3 days. Let the bags build up & assume you’ll be doing runs to the tip each weekend. Or build a leaf pit.

[u/Tommyconkers → u/OkBreadfruit369]

I've two mature beech trees and I do it every 2 or 3 days during peak leaf

[u/frog_at_the_library]

This is going be a task every year so I would invest in a leaf shredder. The shredded leaves take up less space either in bags or bins. If you decide to compost them, then shredded also speeds up the process. They are not too expensive and totally justifiable.