Leaf Drop in 3, 2, 1 ...

[neversay]

It has been a glorious Autumn here but the leaf drop seems like it is later than last year. Is it just me?

We have one green bin collection remaining before the Council stops collections until April. Yet the leaves are only just beginning to come off our beech hedgerows, fruit trees and silver birch. Our two large compost bins are also nearly full.

I'm considering making leaf mould in bags. Does anyone here do the same?


N.

[kiloran]

It has been a glorious Autumn here but the leaf drop seems like it is later than last year. Is it just me?
N.

I agree, we seem to be at least a month later than normal in west-central Scotland

--kiloran

[Dod101]

Just north of the Central Belt in Scotland it has been a very wet Autumn and far from glorious. I have beech trees across the road from me and I think the leaf drop is about the same as last year. It usually carries on through November, depending on when we get frost. That accelerates the drop.

Leaf mould can be successfully made in black bin bags. I make some holes in them but not sure if that is necessary, and they need to be at least damp. No problem about that hereabouts.

Dod

[swill453]

Our council has changed its garden waste contract to a company that treats it in a "vertical composting unit" and we can now "comingle" food and garden waste.

The knock-on from this is that garden waste is still collected every fortnight all year round.

Scott.

[JohnB]

Leaf compost often disappoints because the trees have removed most of the nutrients, and it tends to rot down to nothing. But it does no harm to try. In Kent autumn has been very wet, but the trees have had good colour.

[Nimrod103]

Leaf compost often disappoints because the trees have removed most of the nutrients, and it tends to rot down to nothing. But it does no harm to try. In Kent autumn has been very wet, but the trees have had good colour.

It doesn't rot down to nothing, and is an excellent soil conditioner, but it is low in nutrients. Also leaf mould takes 3-4 years in my experience to really break down enough, so putting a large receptacle in a forgotten part of the garden is OK. Because of the low nutrients I think there is little point in trying cover the leaves from the rain. I usually collect leaves off the lawn with my rotary mower, which chops them up and they rot down faster.

I think the leaf drop is a bit later this year, though I think some of the previous summers were so hot and dry that the leaves fell earlier than normal. Some nearby oaks are dropping their leaves now, while the big oak in my neighbour's garden never drops hardly any leaves all over my lawn until the 2nd week of December.

[neversay]

That's very useful information on leaf mould. I'm not sure that I have space to store it bagged for such a long time. Perhaps the way forward is to mow it as @Nimrod123 suggests and fill the compost bins then create a wire compost cage for the winter. It's the beech hedge leaves that take an eon to rot.

Interesting to hear about your experiences on 'Autumn'. It looks like temperatures are dropping this week which may move the season on.

[neversay]

That's very useful information on leaf mould. I'm not sure that I have space to store it bagged for such a long time. Perhaps the way forward is to mow it as @Nimrod123 suggests and fill the compost bins then create a wire compost cage for the winter. It's the beech hedge leaves that take an eon to rot.

Interesting to hear about your experiences on 'Autumn'. It looks like temperatures are dropping this week which may move the season on.

[88V8]

We used to have a separate container for leaves, but now we have two huge bins that we alternate year to year, so there is no need.

I wouldn't dream of giving away our compost to the Council, why on earth would anyone do that?

V8

[supremetwo]

The leaf blowing brigade has already started round here.

Far too much noise for hours on end.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ ... af-blowers
Research has shown raking leaves is just as simple to do. A tennis courts' worth in 10 minutes is quite a comfortable exercise, so there really is no need for these machines at all.
A lot of people don't know this but blowers are used all the year round. You may be at work all day and oblivious to the discomfort and distress they are causing in your neighbourhood. The use of loud blowing machines is inconsiderate, anti-social and detrimental to the quality of life of many citizens.

Do any of you use them?

[Dod101]

No and I hate them. Mind you I could not rake a tennis court to remove leaves in 10 minutes. I have to rake my grass 3 or 4 times in the Autumn and my 800 square metres or so (rather bigger than a tennis court) takes me the best part of an hour to rake and then bag the leaves.

It bemuses me to see the operators of these blowers wearing noise muffs and yet nobody seems to care about the public nearby. They should be banned.

Dod

[bungeejumper]

Leaf blowers? Haha, reminds me of the time when they were trying to sell the slightly dog-eared stately home that lay just over the wall from my somewhat more modest house. They'd already tidied up the house, and all that remained was to do the same for the grounds.

The task was significant. Since it was October/November, they needed to clear around thirty acres of fallen leaves - and that was just from the front of the house! Six men with tractors, mowers, diggers and assorted other equipment laboured for an entire week on scooping it all up into two absolutely massive heaps that you might have mistaken for a pair of WW2 air raid shelters.

Then the prospective buyer arrived. From Switzerland.....

In the biggest civilian helicopter you've ever seen....

He circled the house and its grounds three or four times. Then he came in low for a few ground-level passes....

A colossal eruption of leaves hit the air. Probably a hundred feet into the air, like a TV hurricane. A week's work undone in two very noisy minutes.

Then the helicopter turned round, without landing, and headed straight back to Switzerland. His Lordship was not amused.

BJ

[scotia]

The leaf blowing brigade has already started round here.
Do any of you use them?

I bought one, tried it a few times, then decided manual removable with brush and shovel of the majority of the leaves was easier. I suppose if I was fussy, I could use the leaf blower/sucker to tidy up after the manual removal, but it would be a waste of time until all of the leaves are down. I suspect it will remain unused in the garage this year.