I use my riding mower w/catchers and run it along the pasture roads under our aspen grove and big leaf maples. Then I can just roll the mower to each bed and spread the shredded leaves about 4" thick. The chickens do a fair amount of scattering when I let them loose, but it is easy enough to rake the leaves back into place and eventually they kind of sog down. I sometimes mark perennials I know will disappear totally with a 6" bamboo stick so I can clear the crown in the early spring.
