It really depends on how thick the leaves are. If you think about it, leaves are nature's natural mulch and aren't harmful as a mulch in most cases.

It is true that rodents may seek shelter in them, but who cares? I would rather they overwinter in the garden than go into my house/garage.

Anyway, if you have a heavily wooded lot with large trees then you may end up with too many leaves and they can smother plants as they tend to mat together when wet. If not removed in spring they can prevent emergence of plants that die back in the fall/winter.

If you end up with a mat of leaves less than an inch thick (when matted, not when fresh) I, personally, would leave them permanently (good mulch and soil conditioner), but I would rake them in the spring to 'fluff' them again.

More than that amount and I would remove some.

My way of dealing with leaves is to use a mulch mower as I mow the lawn and let them incorporate into the lawn soil. Those that get into flower beds I just leave alone. It will be along time before the trees drop enough leaves that I would actually consider removing any from my property.

One trick if you have too many leaves is to put them in plastic bags and then use those bags as insulation over the winter either along the house foundation or around container plants or anything that might benefit from a winter blanket.

In the spring those bags can be stacked out of the way. By the following year you have 'leaf mold' which is a great compost/soil conditioner. They also make a good 'brown' to add to the abundance of greens we have in the summer for the compost pile.

T-ra,

I can't add much to what Justaguy said, since he did a good job of covering just about everything..,,but I did want to ask what kind of trees you have?

The leaves that fall flat and stay flat (like Maple leaves) are the ones that mat up to prevent moisture from reaching the soil. But if you have leaves that curl up as they dry (like Oak leaves) they aren't much of a problem, since they let air and moisture through to your soil. I have tons of Oak leaves and I let them settle where they may, even if it's several inches. I've lost nothing under them.

Julie

I have maple leaves, but not thick enough that I worry about them. My husband gets really annoyed by this, but I will sometimes suck them up with the leaf blower since it mulches them as I do this. Then I put them right back into the flower bed. If there is enough snow and moisture over the winter a lot of them will be soil by the next spring. My husband thinks I am crazy sucking up the leaves and then putting them back, but when I put them back they are mulched into tiny pieces.

Jen,

What kind of leaf blower do you have? My leaf blower only blows air out, doesn't suck in.

Julie

Julie - to answer your question, I have maple trees among others. I'll watch to see how thick the mat gets, but otherwise I won't worry about it. As Jen had done, I had planned on sucking up, mulching and then replacing the leaves, but after doing this once and the wind just bringing in more, I was quite discouraged! Justaguy brings up a good point - rather have the critters in the garden rather than in the house!! And as a side note, I just bought a Remington leafblower that sucks up and mulches at Menards on sale for $36. I had planned on buying one (can't remember the brand) for $70, but why spend twice as much if I only need to use it a couple times per year!! The Remington seemed to work nicely to chop the leaves up into mulch. But I've only used it once, so we'll see how long it lasts.

T-ra,

Thanks for the info on the Remington leafblower!

I'll have to check it out, since we have a Menards nearby.

Julie

Mine is a Black and Decker, I think it's called a Leaf Hog but I could be wrong. I once saw them at Big Lots of all places, but we got ours as a x-mas gift one year.

Thanks, Jen!

I'll check that one out too.

Julie