Last updated on November 16th, 2014
“Leave the garden in autumn the way you wish to find it in spring” is one of those annoying old sayings that makes perfect sense. Alas, here in New York’s Hudson Valley, we never know when the first snow will fall. And if the snow falls before the leaves do, well, we’re totally screwed until spring. Here’s what I’ve managed so far:
Because autumn leaves are very important to me, I had them mowed, and thus shredded, by our lawn service on Monday. They were mowed yet again on Tuesday, and sucked into large bags attached to the mower.
Exhibit A: The front lawn on Monday.
Exhibit B: The front lawn on Tuesday. Quelle difference!
The shredded leaves were piled near the kitchen garden, and also near the the rose garden (above).
And now the fun work can begin!
Mulching, for me, starts with newspaper and cardboard. Why? Because the material eliminates weeds for an entire season.
My garden helper and I laid down a thick layer of paper in the rose beds. Thick layers won’t deteriorate rapidly.
Then we covered the paper with vast quantities of shredded leaves. After the ground freezes solidly, the roses themselves will be mulched to a height of 18 inches.
True Confession: Last fall, I did not mulch my roses as described above.
Can you guess what happened?
Nearly half of my rose shrubs perished during the long, brutally-cold winter.
Lesson learned!
And by the way, it’s a good thing my leaves were collected, shredded, and piled during the early part of the week.
Shall I tell you why?
Because this morning (Friday), I awoke to find…
How’s your own autumn clean-up coming along? Do you still have leaves to shred? Annuals to pull? Perennials to cut back? Talk to me in the comments field below.
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Related Posts:
Why I Save My Autumn Leaves
A Walk in the Late-Autumn Garden
Autumn Spice Cookies
Cary Bradley says
Got them piled up thanks to our garden helper, but not yet shredded. After this sprinkle of snow melts, may just apply unshredded leaves to leek bed, and fortify kales and chards. Must get garlic in the ground soon, and more of the leaves will cover that. Hopefully, some of the leaves will have good enough weather to run through mower/shredder, but if not, will still be happy with piled leaf cover. Love seeing your leaves shredded into pile. Real inspiration to move into action! 🙂
Kelly Reynolds says
I use our leaves to mulch our veggie and flower gardens. My biggest problem is in spring nearly every veggie bed has huge ant cities. We don’t use pesticides so I dread having to deal with them. Any ideas on how to avoid this or to get rid of them in the spring? I have asked nicely for them to leave but ants are unreasonable.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Cary – Thanks for the reminder about garlic! Gotta plant mine today.
Hi Kelly Reynolds – Ants are attracted to dry, fluffy soil — the kind most raised beds offer. (They are not attracted to leaves.) The little insects can do much good for a garden, but they can be trouble, too, especially if they are eating your strawberries or whatever. Here’s one organic way to eliminate them:http://suburbanvegetablegardening.com/get-rid-of-ants-without-pesticides/
Wendi says
Exactly how thickly do you layer the newspapers?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Wendi – For winter mulching, I use fairly thick layers of newspaper, say, 7-10 pages. You can go even thicker if you have tenacious weeds. More details (and lots of pictures) in this post: How I Smother Weeds with Newspaper
badger gardener says
It looks like you completed that project just in time. We haven’t had our first snowfall yet. Just flurries and cold temps. The bulk of my yard clean-up is done. I do still have the dreaded garage clean up so it can switch from my garden shed/bike parking lot back to its intended function of housing at least one of our vehicles. I’m also thawing my container gardens since I left them planted a little too long. I finally remembered to plant snowdrop bulbs this year.
Happy Winter!
Susan says
I don’t have leaves, but since I have horses I have horse manure compost that I use for mulching! It’s a little early yet down here for that since I want to make sure the roses are dormant before I put something on that might encourage growth. Since the cold weather seems to have arrived this week it won’t be too long. In the mean time I’m redesigning my vegetable garden so I can put one of my super handy kids to work over the holiday making raised beds. The herb garden got clean out a few weeks ago, there are a few more spots to clean up around the perennials and then there are a couple hundred bulbs to plant!
Sharon Shade says
I let the leaves remain on the ground to decay and add nutrients to my grass. About 3 weeks ago, just before a heavy rain and the colder weather, I added epsom salts to my yard and I’m hoping that the Spring my grass will come in thicker. The leaves also provide cover and protection for the baby bunnies that the rabbits have in my yard. I’m good with that.
Sue Iseman says
Kevin: Thanks for sharing some great tips! I love this idea, but I have not had good luck with one of those shredders that you show on your site – it took forever to mulch leaves. and burned out pretty fast.(I have smaller than a third of an acre of property) I use a manual lawnmower, so can’t use that. Ideas?
Joann DeLeury says
Hi Kevin….I’ve been mulching my leaves now for a few weeks and have piled them in the flower beds and my little garden but did not put down any newspapers. Being my garden area is small I may still do that. We did get a little snow here the other day, I live near Seneca Lake, but hope to get a few more good days before a heavy snowfall. Thanks for all the info!! Stay safe and warm!!
Jane Rutkowski says
I mulch with shredded leaves every Fall. We have very cold, snowy winters almost every winter here in the Pocono Mtns. of PA. I also have large pine trees and I always cut some pine boughs and put them down as extra insulation. We have to do what we have to do when Ol’ Man Winter Comes Roaring In!
Janet Livesay says
We have had freezing rain..Guess that’s as good a frost…so time to cut down the dahlias..or dig them.
I got a dump of free chips from an Arborist ..all finely ground up maple. I’m putting down the papers first like you said Kevin. …It works!.
Deb Weisberger says
Deb Weisberger says:
November 16, 2014 at 10:13 am
The photo of your house is lovely with all of the leaves. That’s how our yard looks except double the amount of leafage. Now picture that with EIGHT INCHES OF SNOW on it. Winter came way too early in Northern Michigan.
Amy Zills says
Kevin-
I LOVE your home & gardens! You are quite the inspiration to me. Thanks! So I have a ton of ferns & strawberries to be planted. I’m in border zone 7-8 & I have heard conflicting stories on if it’s ok to plant now or wait until spring. Any ideas? Give Thanks!
Dottie says
Hi Kevin.
A silly question. It is kind of hard for me to bend down to pull the weeds now. Would it be just as effective to put newspaper layers over weeds. Thank you.
Debbie says
I just took down the morning glories on the back patio this am. Last week they were still blooming! Mowed the leaves on Wednesday n it snowed on Thursday but it’s gone now here in Kutztown PA. I still have perennials n the worlds most bitter Russian kale to cut down, then I will spread the leaf mulch. It was a great season for nasturtiums along the fence so I have to pull those out too. Hope there is a warmer day next weekend to get this done!
Julie Woosnam says
Yesterday I asked out loud, ‘oh what am I to do with all these leaves? They are valuable for compost, but the weather is changing….’ And this morning I find you have answered my question. As the sun is rising, so am I; getting into my garden-gear right now to go out and mulch the roses. The wind is coming up…clouds are gathering….
Thanks for the brain-waves, Kevin!
Doris Nieves says
Hi Kevin…I know what you mean about kitchen stores….I went looking for a cutting board at our restaurant supply store and came home with ladle, ice tong, coffee insulated server, a small universal lid and I think that covers it…did not get the cutting board. Doris
Tammy says
Kevin – We experienced a bout of leaf mold this year on our maples. I have read that these should be removed and not used to prevent the mold spree from spawning. What do you recommend for prevention?
Thanks
Tammy
Susan Golden says
That was cutting it close, Kevin! We had a leaf blower/sucker upper, but after just one year’s use, the bag refused to stay attaching. I didn’t like it anyway, because it kept clogging from the 10″ leaves that blew in from the neighbor’s yard! So, we just bought a Shredder Joe (a top fill jobbie that acts like a weed wacker on the inside). We use the defunct blower/sucker to just coralle the leaves and then we pile them into the new contraption! It worked great until the 3rd use when it didn’t work at all! However, I called the company, got ahold of a live person, and without asking once what I had done to break it, she promised to send out a new one along with a paid shipping label so we could return the 1st. one, at our convenience! The replacement is in the garage, not even opened, thanks to the lovely blanket of white covering just one last day’s work. Nuts! We may get a chance to finish the job, but if not, I have 3 full contractor bags with finely shredded leaves! What a harvest!!!
ToniBeth says
Here in eastern Washington state The weather is sunny but very cold it has dipped to 17 degrees at night daytime it gets to 32 degrees. We had a few snow flakes fall lightly but it didn’t stick.
I had been enjoying the yellow leaves on my small shade trees & raking up what was falling. The leaves were taking their time falling. But I did put them in my flower beds & dug trenches
in the veggie garden & filled them with leaves then covered them up with soil because we get high winds that blow everything way. I did collect some nastursiam seeds & scattered other flower seeds about for some surprises come spring. Last weekend I brought in my geraniums
I have made it to some holiday bazars. Now that the garden is done. Time to enjoy the holidays which will include some of your recipes. Thank you Kevin!
Arden Rembert Brink says
We’re “lucky” in that most of the trees around our yard are evergreens so no leaves, and the apples and poplars that obviously do drop leaves each fall are just enough “outside” the perimeter of the main yard that we feel no compulsion to rake them up, so minimal fall yardwork. Equally lucky our best friends have a huge maple in the middle of their yard and a couple of apple trees, so lots of leaves. He mows over them to chop them up and bags them for us. Yay! So my front tomato bed is nestled down under a good blanket of chopped leaves. I’ve gotten two more bags to add to my big containers, although I’m wrestling a bit with my “container gardening” since it is SO dry here in Utah and I just don’t seem to have what it takes to successfully water them daily (much less twice a day in the hottest weather) so I need to figure out something to plant in them that doesn’t need *quite* so much water. Any ideas?
Enjoying your blog so much, as always. In fact, I sure missed the Sunday update last week!
Eleanor Sterling says
When is your cookbook coming out? I’m looking forward to buying it for my grand-daughter.
Elaine ransom says
Don’t get enough leaves to deal with, I have to beg them from friends. Anyhow the question is moot, snow covers the garden and the dozen or so deer that pass through regularly are working at cleaning up the flower beds. Lucky me? And the trees are too tall for the elk to damage now!
Denise T says
• Every day there is something that I can be doing in the yard. The leaf collection went brilliantly this year as we mowed up most leaves to dig into and cover new perennial garden beds. The shredded leaves decompose and stay in place as a mulch much better that whole leaves which can be blown away more easily.
• I have been planting teeny tiny shrubs bought online since I have a teeny tiny budget. Eventually in my lifetime they will grow to a larger full and attractive size. (if they survive the winter) I have also taken semi-hardwood cuttings of neighbor’s shrubs and some of my mature shrubs and they are now lightly rooted. I need to pot them up and dig them into the garden and cover w/leaves.
• I will be winter seeding following your directions on your website. I never realized how much milk we consume in this house until saving the cartons. Amazing. My son’s organic gallon is almost $7 now! Am I sounding old? Just tell me. I’m probably sounding like my parents complaining about the cost of everything.
• I have a new cellphone and decided to download a list application to see if it works for us. All my garden chores are on one list, and I love checking them off. I can check the list wherever I am now. The grocery list is the bomb though. I can add things to it and if hubby is shopping I can add and he will see it on his end (once he learns how to use it). (Wunderlist btw)
• I have hens who produce copious amounts of egg sized poo all over the lawn (which dissolves in a good rain shower) and fertilizes wherever they roam. IT can be icky though but I can;t stand cooping them up because they should have happy lives doing what they were meant to do, roam around clucking, tasting, taking dust baths, sun baths and sharing their beauty and happy natures with us. I use pine shavings in their houses and when I clean them out it makes the soil in my veg garden much lighter. I have clay, rocks, boulders and more rock. Today I covered their fenced coop sides with a bit of wavy clear plastic sheeting to keep some of the wind and snow out. The roof of the fenced coop is totally covered by this so they have a safe dry place to hang if they want, or when the fox starts to visit us & I need to pen them up for awhile.
• So many more things to do lately with new veg garden fencing and redesigning a more attractive potager style. Eventually when arbor entranceways are complete I will post pics on FB and share them. I thank you for sharing the easy boxwood cutting/ grow tips, as they are one of the only evergreens the deer leave alone.
Sharon says
Just shredded leaves this past Saturday. My neighbor to the rear couldn’t figure out why I wanted his leaves too – “they’ll sour the soil,” quoth he. Such nice yellow maple leaves to mix in with the oak leaves that landed on my yard from another neighbor’s oak trees. [All I have on my property is a dogwood, a cherry, and a lace leaf maple. All the other leaves come from neighboring properties.]
The calla lily tubers and gladiolus corms are out and happily overwintering in the basement.
Holly K says
Hello Kevin,
I enjoyed your post as well as reading all the other comments. So interesting to hear where everybody is in regards to the season. Up here on the Canadian prairies we are suddenly in serious winter. It has been going down to -24C or -11.2F at night and it hasn’t been warming up too much during the day. I wasn’t finished my fall chores. The day I was going to collect all our leaves the wind picked up and let me tell you does it ever blow on the wide open prairies. Anyway all my leaves blew away I was so sad. I was however able to retrieve some and dug them into the garden. I could never just lay them on top like you do Kevin they would absolutely be all gone by spring.
I really have to say how much I enjoy your blog. I read all your posts and laugh and giggle at all your jokes. You have such great recipes and I so love to see your beautiful house and gardens. I don’t comment too much but I’m here lurking in the back ground. Thank you
Irene says
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for your wonderful web site. Your posts always make me smile and inspire me to get chores done instead of making me feel guilty. Within the last ten days I have made your delicious lentil soup, finally got most of my spring cleaning done in November–the summer was spent outdoors making new garden beds–and mulched and composted with those leaves. All thanks to you and the joy you take in home, garden and friends.
Beverly, zone 6, eastern PA says
Yesterday and the day before we chipped a total of 16 loads of leaves in the chipper, each one starting as a huge raked pile but then gloriously transforming into a 10″ layer in the roomy compost bins. We use two bags in rotation for the chipper. As I am carting off and emptying one bag and layering other materials with the chipped leaves, my husband puts the spare bag onto the machine and continues chipping the raked piles. It goes faster this way as it seems we are always racing against darkness as we labor. In between my layers of chipped leaves, I placed many bagfuls of saved kitchen scraps and branches of greenery (cut Mums, pulled Nasturtiums and Arctotis, Sweet Autumn Clematis vines, Dahlia branches, Canna stalks, pulled pepper plants). I also added thin layers of half finished compost to activate this concoction. I have filled three enormous bins so far this month but there is so much more raking left to do. We usually get 25 – 30 loads of leaves each fall. Thank goodness I have empty wire bins waiting…
My morning glory, purple hyacinth bean and love-in-a-puff vines need to give up their seeds and then be torn down to also become layers in the compost bins, a bit of aeration added to the density of the P R E C I O U S layers of leaves.
Today is an all-day-rain event with workmen in every room of my house installing ductwork for central A/C. And I have a clothespin on my nose since their drywall saw and vacuum just hit a pocket of stinkbugs hibernating in the attic over the family room.
I am so glad I got my last Cannas and Dahlias out of the ground “late” yesterday, as in almost-too-dark-to-see late. This rain will change into bitter, windy, cold weather with outrageously low temperatures for November and I am sure I won’t be wanting to go out and dig anything then. We had one overnight snowfall last week! Parsley still going strong, though.
Barbara O'Brien says
Kevin,
Oy-vay! Hurried to cut various perennials, mums that were past their prime and spread some mulched leaves at one of the community gardens in anticipation of snow on Tuesday/Wednesday. But not before scheduling a long overdue cleanup at another community garden. Rosaries out for this Saturday when I have scheduled 12 volunteers to “close up” that community garden. What was I thinking not doing that a couple of weeks ago!!! Our yard is in good shape … although I must admit my husband and I were raking leaves this morning at 7:30 a.m. as a heavy, wet snow was falling! (That is now gone.) Will mulch those leaves on a warmer day. What am I thinking!!! Ferns are still just lovely and the hosta leaves have turned that wonderful fall shade of gold … love, love, love autumn!
Best,
Barbara
Nancy says
I am so confused about the mulching process on roses, peonies and other fungus prone plants. [The milk treatment just doesn’t work for me. I got rid of my oldest roses that I could not control diseases on and bought disease-resistant varieties and they are just as bad. I have tried to keep up with the black spot and disposed of the bad foliage properly. So my question is after I clean up entirely around the plants from leaves that have fallen, I can then put down newspaper and chopped leaves underneath for the winter? Do I remove it in the spring?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Nancy – I put newspaper between the plants, as shown in this post: How I Smother Weeds With Newspaper. Then I top the paper with shredded leaves. Do not remove the leaves or paper in spring — they are feeding the soil, and smothering weeds.