How to make leaf mould - it's way sexier than you'd imagine
Plus - boots, a senile moment, and things we gardeners would like for Christmas
A fully mature leaf mould is a joy to see, smell and touch. It will be warm brown, sweet-smelling and as soft and light and delicate as anything you’ll find in a garden
The leaves are properly coming down, and I might have convinced you here to leave your leaves where you can. And those leaves that you collect from paths and lawn? You could scatter them over flowerbeds, or you might feel like trying your hand at leaf mould, which is more exciting and rewarding than you’d expect. I’m delighted this week to welcome Julia back who has kindly agreed to share her methods with us. I defy you not to be converted to leaf moulding….
There’s a garden boots update, and a general wellies question, so get ready with those comments. Also, I’m once again going to be asking for your help in compiling this year’s list of Christmas presents that gardeners would really love to receive (as opposed to flowery pointless gloves which last year you were unanimous in your opinion of). I’m hoping we can compile a list which you might then be able to subtly share with anyone, however well-meaning, who might be even slightly on the verge of buying flowery gloves.
If you’re looking for the Small Garden Design Course, you can find Week 1 here and Week 2 here. You can start this course at any time, so do come and join in whenever you feel like it. Prices are going to go up significantly next month, so if you’ve been thinking about joining for a while and want to fix your forever subscription rate at just over £1 a week, you can do so here:
First of all though, I’ve a confession to make. A few months ago when I realised my trusty garden ankle boots(which I wrote about last week) were falling apart, I did buy some others as a kind of a back-up, easy to slip on to nip to the village shop and handy for dog walks when the general muddiness, which has now become the norm here, is below ankle level. These haven’t really become my go-to gardening boots yet, so when I wrote about the best boots last week, they weren’t at the forefront of my mind.
But, having just this moment gone to check them for you in order to include them in this line-up, guess what? They are by Merry People, the very make of boot that I was talking about buying, but which, it turns out, I already possess. I have absolutely no recollection of choosing this make - but then, I don’t have a recollection of a lot of things at the moment. Names, facts, and this morning I put a teabag in the dog’s bowl and a Bonio in my mug.
Anyway, I can tell you that these Merry People boots are comfy, easy, if a bit big for the size they are.
Your suggestions ranged from ankle boots to full-length wellies, which gives me the excuse to bring up the age-old issue I have of finding the perfect welly for a dogwalk, which will cope with six inches of mud and which won’t cripple in the process. I long for a knee-high waterproof walking boot. A tour of the current stock of size 6 wellies at home shows the research: the Hunters (right) are hopeless, with no grip1, the Aigle boot(left) have amazing grip but are really heavy. There’s no photo of the Fitflop wellies which were just too, well, floppy. On the other hand my sister, the lucky recipient of my worn-once cast-offs, loves them. The current favourite are these Welligog leather boots (centre) - they’re waterproof and don’t feel too huge.
Yes, I have spent a fortune on the hunt for this Holy Grail of wellies - thank the lord that there are people who’ll take them off my hands. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure each of these makes is great for the right person, but recently, along with suddenly terrible eyesight and rubbish memory, my bones suddenly have strong opinions about footwear.
I’d love to hear your recommendations - perhaps they could even go on this Christmas list we’ll be compiling together….
So far we’ve had Merry People (duhhh), Town and Country Buckingham neoprene gardening shoes, and LL Bean Duck Boots. Actually, looking at the duck boots, maybe these would be the answer to my walking boot/welly need? If you have ever had them, I’d love to know your thoughts.
Last year’s Gifts that Gardeners Really Want Guide turned out to be really useful, so I’ve decided to run it again. This all started on seeing yet another well-meant ‘presents for garden-lovers’ list, and realising that I really didn’t have a need for anything on the list.
So I’m putting the question out to you again:
What garden-related gift would you really love to receive at this festive time, and what would you rather people not waste their money on, however well-intentioned?
I’ll put the answers together in a list to be casually left lying around for others to see…..
On a blue sky day the colour of autumn leaves are a sight to behold, but all too soon they will be carpeting the ground.
But to gather or not to gather? That is the question: