A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 To Rake or Not To Rake??

That is my question.

What is everyone's take on raking tree leaves out of the perenial garden beds? Is it better to just leave them to compost by themselves or is it better to get them off the surface of the soil?

personally, i leave them, and crunch them as they dry. not to mention they promote water retention.

and, good to see you, been a while

Good idea Jiff. Didn't think of the water retention. I just raked up one long bed but there are three more to go before I would be done. I think I will try it for one year.

I won't bore you with details but have been really busy. I miss everyone.

you are never a bore! and, let us know how it goes. i don't rake, period, if i can help it, and right now, i'm helping it!

I do 90% of my raking in the spring. I have a lot of oak trees and their leaves drop about the same time as the snow does. I feel the leaves help protect the plants in years that we don't get a lot of snow, but I do rake them off in the spring and put them in the compost pile. I also rake very carefully in some places where tender new shoots are coming up.

I use the leaf blower. Then suck them up and spread them back on the garden. They breakdown faster that way.

I mulch all my beds with bark, so I rake all the leaves out onto the yard and bag them with my lawn mower to use as mulch on next years vegetable garden.

Yes, the leaves help protect the plant roots particularly if you are in a cold climate. They should be raked off in the spring because if there are a lot of leaves on the beds they get matted down and could smother the new shoots that are coming up. Carol.

I'm raking for the compost pile. I have grassclippings on the beds already to protect the bulbs and such from cold temps. That's right isn't it?