I love my garden and I love working in it. Unfortunately, it’s a seasonal thing. Once winter approaches I do all I can to protect and preserve my garden for the next spring.
很多人，包括我自己，都用护根物覆盖他们的花园。其他人则为他们的花园购买护根片。
Personally, I let the leaves fall and, instead of using a hefty leaf blower like my neighbor in suburbia used, I rake my leaves onto the garden to protect it for the winter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPadMeAjtcS/?tagged=leafmulch
用已经存在的东西来保护花园可能看起来很奇怪，但我们的祖先就是这么做的。我们为什么不能呢?
I just don’t see the point of paying good money to purchase large quantities of mulch and/or peat moss when I have the makings of a good mulch to fertilize and protect my gardens right on my very own property. And while it means a little more work, it’s worth it.
Creating Natural Mulch
The process starts in the autumn when I rake up the leaves to cover the gardens. Then, in winter, I scoop up the leaf carpet that’s been compacted over the months from the heavy snow. Finally, in the spring, I make sure to uncover the new growth before it grows too much. This all being said, the benefits far outshine the hardship.
There are so many benefits to natural mulch. The nutrients that bleed into the soil nourish the next season’s new growth. The carpet of leaves protects the garden from all kinds of potentially damaging elements, like road salt.
Road Salt: A Garden Nightmare
当我住在郊区的时候，我的厚厚的树叶地毯在春天被卷起的时候，上面覆盖了一层路面上的盐。我会小心翼翼地用叶毯把盐卷起来，然后处理掉里面的东西。我的花园被拯救了，避免了这厚厚的一层道路盐引起的屠杀。
However, the story was not the same for my suburban neighbors. Their bare front yard, thoroughly cleared of leaves the previous fall, was dead. The road salt had killed nearly everything in its path, even the weeds.
The neighbors—who had scowled at my leaf mulch—would then have to dig up their front yard and re-plant. They did this every year, for the nineteen years that we lived next to them. They probably still do.
In the country, I continue to protect my gardens with natural leaf mulch. I have lots of trees on my one-acre lot, so there’s a healthy supply of leaves each fall.
My gardens near the road are protected from the road salt, while the gardens elsewhere on the property are insulated from the brutal erratic climatic changes that happen more and more each year. Snow, freezing rain, thawing, and then more snow and freezing rain. I like to think that my plants are thanking me each spring when I uncover the gardens.
Saving The Trees
In the spring, the leaf carpet benefits the trees, especially in drought years where water is scarce at best. We’ve had a couple of summers in a row with severe drought conditions.
因为在井里，我不能冒险用自己的水源给树浇水，所以我依靠树叶地毯来帮助维持树根周围的水分。最终，树叶地毯分解成肥沃的土壤，这将继续有利于树木和周围的生长。
Leaf Mulching For The Lawn
Leaf mulching the lawn is also a good idea, though you shouldn’t leave too thick of a layer of leaves on the lawn. This may smother the grass. Divide the leaf mulch between lawn and garden, or rake the leaves into isolated corners of the property to allow them to decompose or create a mold.
树叶富含矿物质，它们的树从土壤中吸收了矿物质。蚯蚓和微生物会分解树叶覆盖物，将其转化为有机物。
通过覆盖树叶，尤其是我的糖枫叶，花园和草坪下面的土壤受益于额外的有机物质，否则它们不会得到。这种覆盖树叶的过程也有助于减轻较重的土壤，使沙质土壤保留更多的水分。
Adding Mulching Leaves To Compost
Autumn leaves should also be added to the compost. As a rich source of carbon, the leaves will help balance the nitrogen in the compost.
There are some leaves that serve this purpose better than others. Sugar maple leaves are one of the best, while others like walnut, eucalyptus, and camphor laurel contain plant growth inhibitors. These leaves should be composted first before adding them to the garden soil.
Nature has a way of regenerating and promoting healthy growth. It’s all there for us to use. And the benefits are multiple. Never mind the neighbor that wants to blow his leaves away—and yours as well. Mulch your leaves and your garden and lawn will thank you.
Today’s post is brought to you by award-winning author and artist,Emily-Jane Hills Orford. When this author isn’t writing, creating collage paintings, working on her needlework or composing, you’ll find her in the garden. Even in the winter, gardening is not far from her thoughts as she plans and prepares for the next season and the next growing adventure.
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