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Why Leaves Change Color |
Now, from the standpoint of material for mulch and leaf mould , oak leaves are great. But from the standpoint of trying to maintain a modicum of order in the garden, they are a royal pain in the derrière.
Some of the oak species have huge leaves that tend to get caught in shrubs and blow all over. Unlike trees like black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), whose leaves are tiny and practically disappear once they've dried up a bit, oak leaves need to be broken down to provide a good mulch without smothering perennials that retain some life above ground through the winter.
There are several ways of approaching this leaf chopping chore, depending on how much time I've got. The finest chop is achieved by hauling leaves to my old, trusty Kemp chipper-shredder.
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Chipper-Vacs: Making Fall Cleanup a Snap |
Next best, in terms of fine chop, is using the vac attachment on my leaf blower. Both these are pretty time consuming. Using the Kemp means that I have to rake the leaves and haul them to the shredder; shred, shovel up and haul back to the borders. As my garden has expanded, I've used this method less and less. The leaf vac is very slow and the bag is unwieldy and tiring. This method works best for me if I rake the leaves into a pile and then attack the pile. Fastest for me, although it means larger bits of leaves, is using the lawn mower. None of these methods work well with wet leaves and my electric leaf vac won't accept twigs and acorns.
If my "lawn" were large enough to justify the expense, I would get one of the walk behind chipper-vacs. My brother has one and loves it
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Make Your Leaves Work For You |
I go to the trouble of chopping only for the leaves I want to return to the borders immediately. The vast majority are gathered and hauled to an out of the way spot where I pile them up and let Nature do her thing. By the next summer, the bottom of the pile has turned into rich, black leaf mould, one of the best substances the gardener can have. Unlike compost (at least my compost), leaf mould has virtually no weed seeds. It is a marvelous addition to potting compost or that special mix used to amend soil for planting.
