I'm currently trying to solve a couple of issues. I have multiple large garden spaces under mature oaks. I do the traditional lawn raking in the fall, shred those leaves and hold them for the next year's mulch. Also employ the lawnmower to bag shredded leaves mixed with grass clippings (only use the bagger when collecting fall leaves). The garden beds don't really get cleared of fall leaves until the following spring because leaves are still falling at Thanksgiving. After being wet and weighed down by snow over the winter, those leaves form quite a mat. In the past, have always cleared those away and put in a huge yard waste pile along the back slope of my yard to mitigate erosion. Takes a couple of weeks to accomplish and leaves the ground bare between plants. Trying to find a happy medium this spring to improve soil quality and reduce labor.
