Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: viettaclark on November 21, 2009, 22:36
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I'm dizzy with conflicting advice. :wacko:
Do I rake up the masses of leaves from the lawn or not?
The worms are supposed to aerate the soil and they will come up and get them. Leaving them creates damp and encourages moss. The chickens love scratching about in them.
Can someone please tell me it's alright to leave them as it saves a job!!!!
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Well there's good news, and bad news, Dizzy.
Yes, you should collect the leaves, otherwise you'll end up with bald patches on the lawn.
But no, you don't have to rake em up (unless they've already made sloppy packets): you just mow the grass, and shove the grass/leaf mix on the compost, or make leaf-mold.
But they can be a nuisance when there's a lot of em :D
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You have a lawn and chickens -- I am impressed :D :D
I've seen the pictures others have posted :ohmy: :ohmy:
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If you want a good lawn, rake them up. The fallen leaves block out the light and kill the grass beneath.
Bag up the leaves and leave them for a couple of years, fantastic compost. :)
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The "lawn" has survived 3 chickens and 3 kids this year. It's a bit bald in places and daisies, clover, moss and stuff are spreading. But we haven't had to mow so often, the chickens scarify it and eat the ants that have colonised it and the worms seem to love chicken poo. Little worm casts eveywhere! The water butts are all overflowing so the defunct soak-away in the middle causes flooding in this wet weather and chickens and kids go paddling. I scrape the claggy, wet leaves back on the borders so the chickens can rootle and scratch them back again (keeps them fed with slugs and worms....happy chickens) but come Spring it looks great..green and lush.......( from up on the patio). Any closer and you realise it's like a field, NOT a lawn!! :(
Who cares? :D :D :D I've given up!! :D :D :D