Leaves, leaves and more leaves
Posted by Fiona Nevile in General care | 12 comments
Photo: Inca beside the leaf sacks
Having been tempted by the jute leaf bags (4 for a fiver at Notcutts) they were all full by the end of the afternoon. When I was searching for the greenhouse bubble wrap in the barn I spotted some chicken wire high up in the rafters which will be perfect for making the leaf mould container that Steve H suggested. The drawback of the biodegradable bags is just that – they rot down so have to be replaced each year. Tomorrow I’m going to nip into the market and see if I can score some onion bags from the veg stall.
So hopefully I can report back on the results of several methods of making leaf mould this time next year.
My mum has confirmed that it’s a wonderful soil conditioner. My grandmother had a small wood and used the leaf mould each Spring on her borders. She had an amazing garden.
We have two metal lawn rakes – heaven knows why – which John used to use together for picking up leaves. I’ve been using one to create a pile of leaves to transfer using the leaf collectors into sacks or the wheelbarrow. I’ve struggled a bit with these as the leaves get fastened to the tines. Used on borders the plants were getting scraped and ripped. Generally I was getting rather fed up with the whole leaf collecting experience. To top it all Inca kept on barking at the bulging bags thinking that they were short squat intruders.
Then I remembered Clive’s plastic rake.
We had been laying a hedge for a friend and when it was time to clear up Clive opened his boot and whipped out this plastic rake with wide tines.
“You can’t beat a plastic rake like this for picking up debris from a lawn, Fiona.” He said as he nimbly brushed the bits and bobs into a neat pile.
“There.” He leant on the rake. “If you haven’t got one already, look out for one. It’s a great investment.”
I had no intention of getting one. It was plastic and looked cheap. I preferred good old fashioned looking tools. Oh the foolish arrogance! Back in those days John cleared our borders and lawns, he would have really appreciated a proper leaf rake.
So I drove out to Fordham. The garden centre had one leaf rake left. A hefty Yeoman one when I tested it out on the shop floor – observed closely by a wide eyed young couple – it was far too big and unwieldy for me. Homebase also had just one left, lighter and more compact. Perfect in everyway apart from the price.
Clive, I wish I’d taken your advice all those years ago. It works like a dream. Much quicker and more efficient than a metal lawn rake. Handled gently it’s good for clearing leaves from borders too. And dare I say worth the £14.99 price tag.
Useful links:
Amazon has large selection of plastic leaf rakes
Leaf bags:
Harrod Horticulture offers 3 for £5.95 and has a discount if you order 6 bags – £10.90 –
95×65 cm
Crocus has just slashed their prices on multiple ordersof these bags – if you order 10 or more they work out at £1.50 each and they are a bit bigger at 100cmx80cm.
Amazon has pack of 5
Dobies Dobies have a set of 3 for £8.95
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My old wire rake handled awfully. It now just decorates the shed as the ugly plastic one does the job in half the time and, for this, I forgive it’s baby blue colour too. (Why can’t they at least make them in green?)
But, to be honest, I only rake the leaves which are on the gravel path, or on the very small piece of decent(ish) lawn – otherwise, I just let them rot down naturally. Also use bin liners for the ones I do collect – just pierce a couple of holes and tie them up.
Must tell you – I used your search engine for ecards and found what I was looking for straight away. I’ve now joined Jacquie Lawson e-cards. I know you’ve had some problems with the post there, but here it is always dodgy, so these will save the day and, as you said, are much greener.
I’ve been a bad blogger lately, so haven’t tried the widget Danny so kindly explained, but when things pick up, I shall. Thanks.
Hi Claudia
No I had no idea so thanks for the tip. Luckily no oak trees in our garden.
Hi Kate (uk)
Yes I like the way they look too. Rustic and old fashioned.
Just discovered your blog recently. Great blog!
Don’t know whether you already know:
Be careful with oak leaves. They contain a lot of tannic acid which isn’t useful for all plants fertilized with it.
I couldn’t resist those sacks either-I shall also do some in bin bags as I usually do and see which works best. The jute bags certainly win the good looks badge.
Hi Catalina
Wow how enterprising of your father! Can’t wait to see how my leaf mould turns out.
Ahh I love leaves!
My dad drives around every night and picks up bags of leaves people have left on their curbs.
He has about 85 bags now.
By next summer they will have dissapeared into his garden.
And he just dropped off 10 for my garden!
Yay! Now I can insulate my plants.
LOL Amalee – there is loads of info on the Internet. Just Google this:
how to favicon
Also, there are loads of favicon generaton sites online.
Oops – just realised that your Garden Diaries blog is hosted at Blogger. I think they like their own favicon to appear, rather than your choice of images. Same probably applies for blogs hosted at WordPress. Perhaps you can only do this if you have a self-hosted blog (where you pay for your own web space and domain name, like we do).
Keith – we were discussing your technique over supper. We think you must be a sportsman because no way could I execute an efficient backhand sweep more than three times in a row before falling over! Top marks for championing the DIY approach 🙂
Never mind the leaf bags Fiona. How do you do that thing with the tomato on your blog page saved to my favs? This is the way forward for my hardcore tomato addiction.
Amalee
I use a long, sturdy stick to propel leaves along the lawn and paths towards my leaf mould enclosure. A low backhand action, bringing most of the length of the stick into play, does the trick beautifully. You can use the point of the stick to ease leaves out of borders without damaging your plants. Use an old dustpan to scoop the gathered leaves into your container. And if the stick breaks, well, plenty more are blown off the trees at this time of year.