‘Relaxed’ gardening involves, I firmly believe, being one step ahead. It pays to nobble your first lily beetle before he finds a mate, to stake your delphiniums properly before that June thunderstorm, to take your favourite tender plants indoors – before they shiver and rot to death etc. etc..
So September is the month you should build a leaf cage – or even another leaf cage (read on) – in which to store and compost the leaves that are about to hail down on you – gardening manna from heaven.
All you need is four stout posts some chicken wire and something with which to tie them together. Leaves rot slowly by the action of bacteria and fungi and need neither to be covered nor to heat up, unlike ‘green’ garden waste. Make the cage bigger than you think you need, since initially leaves take up loads of space (unless you use a leaf-collector or mow them up, which shreds them, thereby speeding up the rotting process into the bargain). Don’t make the mistake of just piling up new ‘old’ leaves on top of last year’s almost-rotted ones, or you will get in a terrible pickle when you try to use them. And if you don’t have space for a leaf heap, or only have a few leaves anyway? Cram leaves into punctured black bags, shove them under evergreen shrubs and forget them for 18 months.
Tags: Autumn, Garden, Helen Yemm
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