Make the most of all those fallen autumn leaves by turning them into leaf mould, for use as a wonderful soil conditioner for your garden.
The best quality leaf mould is produced from the leaves of oak and beech trees, but most of your fallen leaves will work well. The larger the leaves, the longer they will take to break down but you can give it a helping hand by shredding them with a lawnmower or garden blow vac when collecting them.
If you only have a small garden, you can make the leaf mould in plastic bags or, if you have the space, you could build a simple frame out of chicken wire and stakes to house the leaves.
Making your leaf mould
1 First you need to collect all the fallen leaves; either rake them up or collect and shred them in a blow vac or lawnmower.
2 Bag them up into good quality plastic garden sacks. If the leaves are dry, add a couple of pints of rainwater into the bag so the leaves are all nice and wet.
3 Tie up the bags with garden ties or twine and use a screwdriver to pierce each bag in about 15 to 20 places.
4 Stack up your bags of leaves in a shaded area of the garden, perhaps behind the shed. Every couple of months, simply turn them over.
Using your leaf mould
Either use the leaf mould as a mulch for your beds and borders the following autumn or leave them bagged up for a couple of years to create an excellent soil conditioner.
Dig this into your flower beds to improve the structure and condition of your soil.
• Mix it in when you’re sowing seeds or use it in potting compost to help stop it drying out
• Add some to your compost bin, it’ll boost the quality and keep the worms happy too!