Should you rake up your leaves and make leaf mold or leave them where they fall to nurture the plants and critters in the soil when they decompose.
I have to admit I have no real preference between the two. That being said, I do have a couple of places where I let the leaves stay over winter and rake them up after spring is well underway.
Otherwise, they are collected when they fall and composted. I must admit I’m not an expert on leaf mold, so I will share a video for you to watch and will encourage you to do further research so you can decide which way is best for you.
The leaves are far too valuable to just pitch in the trash for those of us working towards sustainability.
I will issue a word of caution when using leaves in the garden. Some are great, and if you leave them lay and rot, it will enrich your soil. There is no doubt about it.
However, too much of a good thing is not such a good thing. Leaves that fall contain a growth inhibitor. I once raked someone’s yard for their leaves. It was a huge score.
My entire garden was covered with leaves knee deep. I worked hard and dug them all under that fall. Come spring, the soil level was still pretty high compared to where it had been.
I planted my garden, and things started out great, but then everything just stopped growing at about a foot tall. I harvested nothing that year at all. The area has some of the best-looking soil I’ve ever seen, and I can grow pretty much anything there now, but I lost a whole season because I did not know about the growth inhibitor. Live and learn.
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Slocum's Creak 