Every year, thousands of Autumn leaves change to beautiful golden, pink and purple hues. As pretty as these thousands of leaves are, they can require quite the clean up as they cover your garden, paths and driveway.
What not to do with autumn leaves
Before we give you some ideas of what to do with your autumn leaves, here’s what not to do:
● Don’t let leaves go down drains, they wreak havoc for the sewerage systems and stormwater drains,
● Don’t let a thick layer of leaves build up on your grass for weeks on end, the grass will suffocate and die!
What to do with autumn leaves
If you’re wondering what to do with all of the fallen leaves to prepare for your winter garden, look no further for ways to put them to good use:
Use them as compost
Autumn leaves make excellent compost! They are extremely beneficial to your garden. These leaves are full of rich carbon matter that will help your garden thrive. Simply pile them up, keep slightly moist and turn to aerate every few weeks. After around 3 months the leaves will have started to break down into a compost and can be used on your lawn and around your plants.
Mow them onto your lawn
To make things super simple, if the leaves have fallen directly on the lawn, just mow them! The nutrients in the shredded leaves are exactly what your lawn soil needs. Don’t worry if they take a while to break down, they will eventually and when they do the nutrients will go straight into your soil.
Use them as mulch
These leaves make fantastic natural garden mulch. They can suppress weeds and will eventually break down and provide nutrients to the soil. To ensure the leaves don’t block air and water from getting to the soil, ensure you shred them before layering them around your plant beds.
Autumn provides a great opportunity for green thumbs to utilise all of the opportunities the leaves provide for their gardening essentials, so instead of considering cleaning them up a chore – put them to good use!
