The color of autumn leaves may appear mesmerizing, but too many of those red and orange lifeless leaves can simply make your lawn look like a wreck. Not many gardeners look forward to clean leaves and most wonder if leaves can convert into compost without the need to rake them up. Well, if you have few leaves in your garden, wind might just blow them away to the nearby bushes and end up as compost. However, if you have a good amount of leaves, then they can just end up killing the grass growth before decomposing and turning into fertilizer. This leaves you with the option to get rid of them. Here are some easy ways:
Raking them up
You can use a lawn mower and attach a bagging system with them. This makes things easier as the bag fills with leaves in no time, as you work your lawn mower up and dawn your garden. However, you need to make sure that leaves are not wet and moist and, else it might just clog up the bag and the lawn mower, leaving you to do more things. You can also use a hand held leaf blower to rake up the leaves. Another way is to rake traditionally; it is very satisfying and efficient too. You have a number of rakes available in the market, such as wider rakes and ergonomic rakes, which would give you a better experience.
Blow the leaves into a pile
You can use the handy leaf blower and work your way across the garden by piling the leaves into a large heap. This is a good option for small lawns, where raking is tougher to do. Blowing is less time consuming and easy.
Simply pick them up
If you do not have a colossal leaf fall, then just go ahead and simply pick them up and put them in a garden cart or a leaf bag. A garden cart is a better option, if you want to use them around the garden.
Use a mulching leaf vacuum
You can also use a mulching leaf vacuum, either the attachment variety or the hand-held one that can suck the leaves inside a bag. The best option for a large garden would be to use the lawn mower vacuum attachment. This is a good alternative to leaf blowing and helps you to get rid of all the leaves quickly.
Mow your garden if you have a thin leafy cover
If your garden has just experienced a thin leaf fall, then you can mow it away. This ends up mulching the leaves and spreading them across the garden. It provides good fertilizer for the entire garden.
Additional tips for cleaning fall leaves
- Try to clean your garden at least on a weekly basis and do not put it off. This reduces the extra work, provides sunlight to the turf plants and makes your garden look presentable.
- Do not use the leaves that are diseased or contain some toxins as they might interfere with the growth of other plants.
- Remember to chop up the bigger leaves if you are using them as compost.
- Do not use leaves as compost in Mediterranean plant species and rock garden plants, as they can lead to rotting.
Summary:
With these ingenious and simple ways, you can make your garden look presentable during the fall and save yourself from the hard work too. Furthermore, it would be an added bonus, if you could recycle the fall leaves of your garden and nourish your plants in a natural way.