Talkback: Collecting fallen leaves - Talkback

30/11/2011 at 09:10

I haven’t got enough room in my garden for a leaf heap so I put mine into plastic bin bags and it works very well. The results I get do wonders for my garden and it feels and smells just wonderful.

Gardeners' World Web User

30/11/2011 at 10:03

That is so like the sort of thing I say, Pippa – “I was tempted to go into the garden rather than do any work”. Many people think gardening too much work but not we aficionadoes who regard it as a pleasure. The sudden wind we had in Bristol yesterday robbed me of some of my leaf mould raw ingredients but, as you say, there are lots to come. The oak trees have not started yet.

Gardeners' World Web User

30/11/2011 at 15:13

Well, in my front garden (North Derbyshire) I have 3 daffodils in flower! Is this a record?

Gardeners' World Web User

02/12/2011 at 08:58

I enjoy picking up the leaves in my garden. I don,t rake much as i get grass and other debris in it that way.I have made leaf mould for a couple of years now. I don’t have a big garden but usually manage a couple of black sacks.
My star of bethlehem is still out( from June).

Gardeners' World Web User

02/12/2011 at 09:46

I’ve had a primrose, forsythia and winter jasmine flowering since November. Seasons have seemed rather confused this year!

Gardeners' World Web User

02/12/2011 at 09:51

I have loads and loads of leaves, and less and less time – result, an orchard lawn full of moss! Whilst I agree that gardening is a pleasure, one must remember that in order to support a garden it is a prerequisite to go to work. I’ll try and get stuck in this Sunday, at the very least it’s good excersise.

Gardeners' World Web User

02/12/2011 at 12:27

And azaleas in flower in the garden and gorse in full bloom on the Pembrokeshire Coast path last weekend. There’ll be nothing left for spring!

Gardeners' World Web User

05/12/2011 at 13:24

I have bags and bags of leaf mould from last year and shreddings and a bin full of ‘ready’ compost too, so I have used the leaves as a mulch under the shrubs, and that should give good cover for hibernating creatures. I also had so many apples I have left some small ones on for the birds, and then when they are eaten I can cut up some of the stored ones. Blackbirds, fieldfares, thrushes and maybe the odd redwing love them.

gerrya

07/12/2011 at 13:39

I've often thought of collecting leaves from the road side as we get huge piles gathering from oak and beech trees but get put off by the thought of the traffic fumes affecting the resulting leaf mould. We're only talking about a country road not a motorway so I suppose even if the leaves are polluted it's not going to be by a huge amount and if I don't use it in the veg garden it should be ok.

We had sweet peas in flower right into November (North Derbyshire)

CazR

09/12/2011 at 09:10

Having heard good things about making leaf mould in bin bags, each year we have lived in our current house I've made a mental note to collect the huge piles of leaves that collect on our front drive. However, each year my husband, who isn't normally proactive when it comes to the garden, has got there first, cleared them all up and taken them down to the local tip......... and expects 'Brownie Points' for doing it aaarrgghhh

happymarion

09/12/2011 at 22:28

Appeal to his pocket,CazR by telling him how much it costs to buy a bag of leaf mould.

Newcastle

06/01/2012 at 21:48

I decided to use fallen leaves as a mulch this year in the raw state. It never occurred to me to segragate them so I may end up with a peculiar mixture all things considered. I tried the bin bag method last year but I have not yet examined the results.

Some of them I have stacked up to compost them in a coupe of "Daleks" together with other vegetable waste which may help them to break down faster. It perhaps is not the best way since tree leaves are supposed to be composted separately to make leaf mould and probably the decomposing leaves on the soil will absorb some of the Nitrogen from the soil, but at least it helps suppress the weeds so I suppose you can't have it all ways!

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