Love your writing, especially the anecdote about Caligula. But the leaves...um, nope. Last year I tried leaving all the leaves in my woodland garden, densely planted with hostas, rhodos, & hydrangeas, because, you know, garden writers. Come spring, the leaves had decomposed not a whit, but instead had formed a dense, wet, 5-inch thick mat, keeping out oxygen, warmth, and light, so that what would have normally been the spears and sprigs of emerging perennials were white, curled alien plants among anoxic loving molds and fungi. If anything overwintered in this mess, it was a bumper crop of slugs, which I spent all summer trying to eradicate with slug baits. I spent my spring, instead of enjoying spring bulbs and new growth, raking and bagging a ton of sodden leaves. This fall my rake is my best friend.
"Clearly a fallen leaf in the wrong place – such as clogging up a drain, or as a slip hazard on a patio – must be dealt with." I was dealing with exactly this at the front of our house this afternoon - we've learned the hard way about flooding!
At the same time I was NOT regretting not raking up the leaves in the back garden. They're looking absolutely beautiful. They can wait until the next dry spell, when I sweep them up before I give the grass a cut.
Your post reminds me of Masanobu Fukuoka's One-Straw Revolution -- THE proponent of the "NOT do this, NOT do that" way of gardening and farming. Maybe you have heard of him. I had the great fortune of meeting him in person in the late 1980s in Berkeley/California, a Japanese-American friend of mine knew him and invited him. He would completely agree with you to leave the leaves alone! He taught to leave insects, weeds, bugs etc. alone too, with great results. What an inspiration.
This is misinformation that seems to be prominent on the web lately. It is true only if you don’t have too many fallen leaves. But too big a pile, lying on the grass for too long, will kill your grass. Like all plants, grass needs light and air.
I have a yard where half the grass has died to prove this theory. It looks very different than the lawns of my neighbors that receive exactly the same treatment as mine - the only difference is that my lawn has been covered in a pile of leaves for weeks on end for the last few years.
Sure, enjoy the colorful sprinkle of leaves across your lawn. But remove that heavy pile that will kill the grass under it.
I wonder why people make leaf mould? Was it a task invented by Victorian head gardeners to make sure the undergardener was always fully occupied?
Pick them all up, put them in a bag. Wait wait wait wait (picking more and putting in more bags in the meantime..) and then put them back where they came from and where they should have stayed in the first place.
This is my first year making leaf mould. It's now been 'Moulding' for 6 months and I look forward to seeing what it's like when the Big Wet allows us to venture into the garden for better times than just clearing drains. Prior to creating bins to store the budding mould, we would rake the leaves up from the lawns and chuck them straight back on the garden. That worked too. Long live leaf largesse!
Congratulations!!!! I'm really happy to know you share my madness!!!...I use to let leaves alone, and if are so much that make a blanket over the garden I gather and put them in a plastic bag with some holes, a splash of water, close the bag and wait for the next year ...ualaaa!!! ready to use
I apologize for my english, is not my mother's lenguage
So excellent as always! I was not familiar with this tale and it epitomizes our bizarre relationship to nature in every way. Thank you for sharing and of course for the recommendation!
You have to love a gardening post that starts out with Caligula 😃 We were early adopters of no-raking out of nothing other than sheer laziness. I'm delighted to see our sloth becoming something more worthy. In my view there's only one reason for raking leaves into a pile:
When we moved into the home we currently occupy, there were two yards of gravel. No soil. And there was way too much to simply buy soil. So I let the surrounding trees do their work, and begged all the fallen leaves I could get from friends, neighbors and family. Many of whom thought I was a little nuts. But 30 years later, while I still don't have a luscious yard of grass, I do have enough soil to support some grass and a lot of weeds. Every year I find more worms, despite the bird's best efforts to eat them all.
And I still beg fallen leaves from friends and family. And grass clippings, and egg shells, and...you get the idea.
Love your writing, especially the anecdote about Caligula. But the leaves...um, nope. Last year I tried leaving all the leaves in my woodland garden, densely planted with hostas, rhodos, & hydrangeas, because, you know, garden writers. Come spring, the leaves had decomposed not a whit, but instead had formed a dense, wet, 5-inch thick mat, keeping out oxygen, warmth, and light, so that what would have normally been the spears and sprigs of emerging perennials were white, curled alien plants among anoxic loving molds and fungi. If anything overwintered in this mess, it was a bumper crop of slugs, which I spent all summer trying to eradicate with slug baits. I spent my spring, instead of enjoying spring bulbs and new growth, raking and bagging a ton of sodden leaves. This fall my rake is my best friend.
Great post, Dan!
"Clearly a fallen leaf in the wrong place – such as clogging up a drain, or as a slip hazard on a patio – must be dealt with." I was dealing with exactly this at the front of our house this afternoon - we've learned the hard way about flooding!
At the same time I was NOT regretting not raking up the leaves in the back garden. They're looking absolutely beautiful. They can wait until the next dry spell, when I sweep them up before I give the grass a cut.
Your post reminds me of Masanobu Fukuoka's One-Straw Revolution -- THE proponent of the "NOT do this, NOT do that" way of gardening and farming. Maybe you have heard of him. I had the great fortune of meeting him in person in the late 1980s in Berkeley/California, a Japanese-American friend of mine knew him and invited him. He would completely agree with you to leave the leaves alone! He taught to leave insects, weeds, bugs etc. alone too, with great results. What an inspiration.
This is misinformation that seems to be prominent on the web lately. It is true only if you don’t have too many fallen leaves. But too big a pile, lying on the grass for too long, will kill your grass. Like all plants, grass needs light and air.
I have a yard where half the grass has died to prove this theory. It looks very different than the lawns of my neighbors that receive exactly the same treatment as mine - the only difference is that my lawn has been covered in a pile of leaves for weeks on end for the last few years.
Sure, enjoy the colorful sprinkle of leaves across your lawn. But remove that heavy pile that will kill the grass under it.
I wonder why people make leaf mould? Was it a task invented by Victorian head gardeners to make sure the undergardener was always fully occupied?
Pick them all up, put them in a bag. Wait wait wait wait (picking more and putting in more bags in the meantime..) and then put them back where they came from and where they should have stayed in the first place.
Gardeners are the strangest people!
Love this! Not sure if you've ever seen those videos of people raking huge piles of leaves and their dogs lunge into them? They are fun to watch.
I’ve written about the very same thing this week - I’ll add a link and send people over.
FABULOUS as ever, thanks Dan
Love this post - made me laugh this morning - thank you!
This is my first year making leaf mould. It's now been 'Moulding' for 6 months and I look forward to seeing what it's like when the Big Wet allows us to venture into the garden for better times than just clearing drains. Prior to creating bins to store the budding mould, we would rake the leaves up from the lawns and chuck them straight back on the garden. That worked too. Long live leaf largesse!
Congratulations!!!! I'm really happy to know you share my madness!!!...I use to let leaves alone, and if are so much that make a blanket over the garden I gather and put them in a plastic bag with some holes, a splash of water, close the bag and wait for the next year ...ualaaa!!! ready to use
I apologize for my english, is not my mother's lenguage
So excellent as always! I was not familiar with this tale and it epitomizes our bizarre relationship to nature in every way. Thank you for sharing and of course for the recommendation!
Love, love, love the story about Caligula! Will tell it to the next obsessive leave raker or blower I see ;) Thank you Dan!
You have to love a gardening post that starts out with Caligula 😃 We were early adopters of no-raking out of nothing other than sheer laziness. I'm delighted to see our sloth becoming something more worthy. In my view there's only one reason for raking leaves into a pile:
https://youtu.be/D6S_TMd7Jkw (safe & legitimate link to an excellent animal video)
When we moved into the home we currently occupy, there were two yards of gravel. No soil. And there was way too much to simply buy soil. So I let the surrounding trees do their work, and begged all the fallen leaves I could get from friends, neighbors and family. Many of whom thought I was a little nuts. But 30 years later, while I still don't have a luscious yard of grass, I do have enough soil to support some grass and a lot of weeds. Every year I find more worms, despite the bird's best efforts to eat them all.
And I still beg fallen leaves from friends and family. And grass clippings, and egg shells, and...you get the idea.
Thanks for a great post!