Not everyone wants to leave the leaves, but it's worth seeing whether it works for you. #gardening

we all used to be urged to clear leaves away, as if something terrible would happen to our gardens if we didn't. But in many cases, we can leave it to nature to sort it all out, depending on how keen you are on a tidy looking garden.

Gardening advice is never 'one size fits all' so I can understand that we all have different views on where and how many leaves we're happy to leave. It just might be worth experimenting a bit to see where you can save yourself a bit more time and effort, leave a few more leaves and let me know how you find it.

[alexhogan]

Agreed, clear paths drives and let nature do the rest 🙌

[fampirella]

What a gorgeous, magically looking Fall garden!
Thank you for sharing!
Yay to leaving leaves!

[deborahdyste]

Every year I have less lawn and more flower beds or borders. Now I rake a bit but mostly use the blower to corral the leaves where I want them.
I'm grateful for you and the content you share!

[MargaretUK]

I have no problem leaving leaves on the grass, I think they look pretty, and my resident blackbird will often spend half an hour happily turning them over looking for tasty morsels beneath 😀👍

[juliabinford]

Stunning photography! I’d love to be in your beautiful garden, with the lovely fall colors. I have a larch tree which drops tons of free mulch. I spread it around.

[linhmoberly]

Yes. This year and the next… I am definitely leaving the leaves in my garden bed . It will be beneficial for my plants and save me lots of unnecessary work. Love that… Thanks for sharing.

[svetlanapil]

Not only I keep leaves, but the whole town brings them to me. We live in a small community, and everybody knows that I'm taking them in. I receive hundreds of bags of leaves every season. That helped me in three years to go from having zero soil into having mounds of rich soil. We have river rock only, and humus was only about an inch thick. I asked on local group for leaves, and everybody was happy to bring them to me.

[nanrichard]

We usually mow them first & then take the blower to get off the lawn but leave them around the plants for protection. Our winters are so cold here in south Iowa(USA). But come Spring I clear them away.

[bettyjohnson]

I mow leaves on the lawn and leave what falls in the borders til spring. Then I mulch tide leaves before putting them back in the border. I haven't bagged leaves in four years

[eileenchang]

Unfortunately my neighbour has an ornamental pear tree that always has fungal growth on the leaves. They fall on my beautiful hydrangea garden beds so I do have to rake those up. I do agree with using a lawnmower to mulch the existing lease for my lawn.🌸🇨🇦

[kerstinkindstrom]

I put the leaves in the lawn in the compost, I have some large deciduous trees, the rest can be broken down during the winter

[nelidascott]

Do you think its ok to put mulch on top of leaves as I want to spread mulch on my borders to replace depleted soils? Thanks 🙏

[JLee-pcvc]

I've been leaving the leaves for several years with no issues.

[LyraSilvertounge]

Seems silly to slow down a natural process! And saves my back in the process haha

[analuka]

My neighbour has a big walnut tree in her garden. The leaves fall in my garden on my flower border. Do I have to remove the leaves?

[dunbardunelm]

*[sycamore seeds have entered the chat]

[PetersayPeterdo]

Unfortunately I have holly trees, and their leaves never seem to break down 😭

[cassandrashaw]

So thats why they're called LEAVE 's 😂

[joycepeters]

Yes, a woman after my own heart!! Stop wasting g time and energy.