Eco Tip – A excellent use for winter leaves
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Many people truly hate getting out in the bleak mid-winter and raking up those Winter leaves from the garden. Well – If you want to enjoy low maintenance vegetable gardening in the summer, then the leaves are suddenly made out of gold!
Throughout winter rake the leaves into durable bin sacks for storage. Once the spring comes, and vegetables are getting settled, a pest wants to grow right beside them – weeds! Taking the winter leaves, throw them in a plastic bin, drop in some water for a bit of moisture and give the leaves a good bashing with a spade. This chops the leaves into tiny pieces, and then its just a case of throwing them on the ground around your veg. Stomp them into the soil so that you get a nice firm layer.
The benefits of leaf mulching are numerous:
- Your soil moisture is maintained
- It keeps weeds away
- If you protect the ground with the leaves around fruit trees, it will keep your apples and pears clean when they hit the ground
- The leaves will end up to rot into the soil and provide great organic matter for the following year
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