Can I use my leaves like this?

Hi
I have masses of oak and ash leaves in various stages of decomposition. I also need to find something cheap or free to add to the soil in my allotment because it's a bit claggy and I've got about a dozen soft fruit bushes waiting to go in. Is there benefit in using a mower/leaf blower (recently bought) to chomp up the leaves so I can use them straight away as a soil conditioner? Any other ideas please?

If the leaves are at all damp, the equipment won't do a useful job of shredding the leaves. Oak leaves take the longest to decompose, 2-3 years, not sure about ash but being another hardwood, it's possible.

If your leaves are dry enough and you can manage to shred them, then it's worth adding them to the soil, but never as full sized leaves. I tried whole leaves one year and they all clumped together and didn't decompose for several years in the soil. They really need to be shredded. In fall we gather leaves by just running them over with our mower with the leaf bits going straight into a collector bag (saves oodles of time and labour) and spread them over the veg beds and top with manure and let them sit for winter. By spring they're mostly decomposed.

Thanks all
We had just enough finished garden compost to do a reasonable job. I think I'll just carry on mixing the leaves with grass clippings and adding them to the compost heap. My leaf mold bin is full to bursting.