Autumn is fast approaching and it’s the time of year when trees shed their leaves, blanketing the ground below with a thick covering of brilliantly coloured foliage. While raking, bagging and disposing of leaves has become an annual autumn chore for many Victorian homeowners, before you pull out the rake this year, you should consider keeping some of those leaves around as they can actually be of big help to your garden and the environment. Bittern Garden Supplies is the leading choice for landscape supplies in Mornington and surrounds. Let’s have a look at the beauty of autumn leaves and some great alternatives to disposing of them.
Fallen Autumn Leaves Have Value for Both Natural Ecosystems and Gardens
We should stop seeing fallen leaves as an annoyance dropped in our gardens every year, instead we should realise that fallen leaves are in fact a valuable gift from mother nature. Here’s why:
- Leaves accumulating on the ground below trees form a natural mulch that helps suppress weeds and protects roots from temperature extremes.
- Leaf matter provides shelter for a wide variety of insects and animals from butterfly larvae to frogs.
- Leaves provide a food source for billions of microorganisms that break it down into the nutrients that plants need.
What Should You Do with Fallen Leaves in Your Garden?
While it’s beneficial to allow a layer of autumn leaves to accumulate in your garden, large quantities of big, flat leaves left on lawns over a long period may cause damage to turf below. You may also want to give your garden a bit of a tidy-up as thousands of fallen leaves can give a messy and unkempt appearance. If you have huge quantities of big autumn leaves covering delicate plants or smothering your lawn, you might not want to leave them where they are. So, what are the alternatives to disposing of them?
Use your mower to cut leaves into smaller pieces – Many lawn mowers have mulching options that allow you to crush and shred fallen leaves into small pieces. These can then be scattered around on the lawn – they won’t cause damage as the smaller pieces will continue to break down and feed the grass, and will still allow light and water to permeate through.
Invest in a leaf shredder/mulcher – a great tool you can use all year round, this turns leaves into valuable mulch, which you can use in all sorts of ways in your garden. Mulch can be used in perennial beds before winter comes and around roses to help insulate them during the colder months. Shredded leaf mulch is also great for veggie gardens at the end of the season to help replenish the soil.
Put them in the compost bin – throwing your autumn leaves into the compost bin will mean you’ll have rich compost to use around your garden next year.
Autumn is synonymous with the rich colours of beautiful fallen leaves, but before you start your autumn ritual of raking up every leaf in your yard, consider other ways to use them besides putting them in your green bin!
If you are looking for landscape supplies in Somerville, garden supplies in Mornington or earthmoving services to help with your next project, Bittern Garden Supplies is here to help. Give us a call today on 5983 9779, enquire online or visit our Bittern garden centre today.
Recent Comments