Climate Change Gardening in UK - Summer/Autumn 2009

Wed, Nov 4, 2009

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3 Comments For This Post

Karen - An Artist's Garden Says:
November 4th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

Yep - I was on the north/ west side of that divide, at the coast - and our summer was rubbish - but October was spectacular.

Although interestingly we did not (according to my uncle who has been measuring rainfall in his garden for years) get much more rain - we just had it in different months.
K

Paul Says:
November 19th, 2009 at 9:25 pm

We are having extreme problems trying to keep leaves out of our garden. After the heavy winds we seem to be filling bag after bag of leaves. Can anyone suggest a sensible solution. I tend to despise leave blowers but I may have no other option to get my garden looking the way it should. Great blog by the way. My wife and I very much enjoy reading it.

Debbie Says:
November 20th, 2009 at 10:44 am

Hi Paul

Hope this suggestion from Kansas helps with your leaves problem - have not tried it myself but worth a go.You can find out more at
http://kcgardens.kansascity.com/node/2366

The best way to collect the leaves is by using the lawn mower bagging attachment.Collecting the leaves with the mower helps to shred and reduce their bulk. Once collected, the leaves can be spread around the bases of young trees or shrubs, or used to cover areas of bare soil in the flower garden. The leaf layer will provide additional organic matter as they decompose and help conserve moisture and control
weeds.

I like to mow the leaves twice, which decreases the bulk even more. First, I mow the lawn without the bagger attachment. Then, on the second pass, I collect the leaves.This produces a finely chopped material that resembles some of the expensive mulching materials. As a mulch layer, leaves break down quickly.

Would be good to know of any other ideas for collecting leaves?