When autumn leaves cover your lawn, hold off on raking and tossing them away. Those colourful leaves can become valuable mulch for your garden. Spreading chopped leaves around your plants is a simple way to boost your garden’s health, improve the soil, and support a thriving ecosystem underground. The best and easiest way to chop leaves for mulch is to use a lawnmower.

 The soil conditioner superhero

Chopped leaves are a great, free way to add organic matter to your garden. As the mulch slowly breaks down, it mixes into the soil and improves its structure. In heavy clay soil, this helps with drainage and lets roots breathe. In sandy soil, the leaves help hold water and return important nutrients like carbon and nitrogen to your plants. This steady supply of organic material helps create rich, dark, loamy soil that plants love.

A home for beneficial biodiversity

A layer of leaf mulch creates a protected microclimate that is irresistible to a host of beneficial creatures and soil organisms. It provides essential shelter, food, and moisture for vital workers like earthworms, which are nature’s tireless soil engineers. They burrow through the soil, creating tunnels that further improve aeration and drainage, while their castings (worm poop) are a powerful, natural fertilizer.

Furthermore, the mulch layer provides habitat for beneficial ground beetles and spiders, which help control garden pests. Beneath the surface, the decomposing leaves feed a vast network of microbes and fungi. These organisms are crucial for breaking down the organic matter into plant-available nutrients and even forming beneficial relationships with plant roots. By providing this protective blanket, you are inviting a whole community to work for you, resulting in a more resilient, fertile, and naturally balanced garden ecosystem.