Good mornin NG

I have moved to a house which has a gravelled area to which I didn't give
much thought. My wife was very keen to get one of those petrol blowers to
blow off the leaves etc but I thought to myself that it was a fairly
extravagant way to keep the place tidy and that people alwys managed
perfectly well without them before.

Now autumn is upon us and not only are the leaves falling in more abundance
but the rain is setting in! I can almost hear those words "I told you
so...." ringing in my ears - no she's not that bad

Anyway my question to all of you who have walked this path before is - Dead
leaves and gravel, a bad mix? I can imagine as they slowly decompose in the
gravel the mess it could make, and I will be wishing I got that blower. On
the other hand will they decompose and miraculously be consumed by the land
leaving a nice gravel patch once again in the Spring/summer.

I've a feeling I know what you're all going to say.

Thanks to all in advance

Charlie

'Twas Tue, 22 Oct 2002 12:03:24 +0100, when "Charlieb"
enriched all our
lives with these worthy thoughts:

Anyway my question to all of you who have walked this path before is - Dead
leaves and gravel, a bad mix? I can imagine as they slowly decompose in the
gravel the mess it could make, and I will be wishing I got that blower. On
the other hand will they decompose and miraculously be consumed by the land
leaving a nice gravel patch once again in the Spring/summer.

Let the wind blow them into convenient heaps in the usual
nooks and crannies, then let the rain dampen them down, so that you
can grab them fairly easily and cart them off to the compost heap or
leaf litter bin. You'll never round up all the loose leaves, but by
removing the naturally-formed heaps, you'll reduce the amount of crud
that will develop over the winter to contaminate the gravel.
In most cases, come next April, you'll hardly know there had
been dead leaves all over the place! :~)
--
cormaic URG faqs/webring - www.tmac.clara.co.uk/urgring/
Culcheth Garden - www.tmac.clara.co.uk/garden/
Warrington Paving - www.pavingexpert.com/
Peoples' Republic of South Lancashire

cormaic CAN BE FOUND AT borlochshall.co.uk

"cormaic" wrote
"Charlieb"
enriched all our
lives with these worthy thoughts:

Anyway my question to all of you who have walked this path before
is - Dead
leaves and gravel, a bad mix? I can imagine as they slowly
decompose in the
gravel the mess it could make, and I will be wishing I got that
blower. On
the other hand will they decompose and miraculously be consumed by
the land
leaving a nice gravel patch once again in the Spring/summer.

Let the wind blow them into convenient heaps in the usual
nooks and crannies, then let the rain dampen them down, so that you
can grab them fairly easily and cart them off to the compost heap or
leaf litter bin. You'll never round up all the loose leaves, but by
removing the naturally-formed heaps, you'll reduce the amount of
crud
that will develop over the winter to contaminate the gravel.
In most cases, come next April, you'll hardly know there had
been dead leaves all over the place! :~)
cormaic

I do the same as Cormaic and then rake the gravel over a bit so that
the leaves go underneath and therefore decompose quicker.

Jenny