As winter sets in and gardens fill with fallen leaves, a garden expert has shared four smart ways to use them instead of throwing them away.
11:43, 14 Dec 2025Updated 11:43, 14 Dec 2025
Keep hold of your leaves to provide benefits to your garden(Image: Uwe Krejci via Getty Images)
As the cold months continue, our gardens and parks have been blanketed with leaves. While it’s tempting to grab the rake and bag everything up, garden experts are pleading with us to pause before binning the lot.
Bagging up those leaves and chucking them out means you’re missing a trick when it comes to gardening benefits. Luckily, one horticultural expert has dished out her wisdom on what to actually do with all those leaves, and how they can work wonders for your outdoor patch.
Helen Hutchings Cox has lifted the lid on her own leaf-management strategy as winter takes hold.
She’s revealed four brilliant uses for fallen foliage rather than consigning it to the dustbin. Helen showcased her suggestions on her Instagram page, helenlikesplants, insisting: “Where possible, I just leave them alone where they fall.
Don’t thrown fallen leaves away(Image: Grace Cary via Getty Images)
“They massively improve your soil and give animals and insects places to hide over winter.”, reports the Express.
Should leaves land on your lawn, Helen recommends: “If they fall on my lawn, I just sweep them to the side.
“You can use them directly as a mulch on your beds and they’ll break down over winter.” For those with compost bins or who’d prefer a tidier garden view, Helen’s got another suggestion up her sleeve.
“You can add them to your compost bin or worm farms,” she explained. “Or you can store then in a bag or bin for a year and they’ll break down into leaf mould, which is a lovely soil additive.”
Helen’s parting shot: “Whatever you do, don’t throw them away.”
The Royal Horticultural Society also agrees with hanging onto those autumn leaves that fall from your trees. They’ve explained how leaves naturally decompose into leafmould – a cost-free soil enhancer.
They said: “Making leafmould is a great way to recycle what would might otherwise be garden waste into a form of organic matter that’s perfect for mulching. The best leafmould is produced from the leaves of oak, beech or hornbeam.”
Creating leafmould couldn’t be simpler – just rake up your fallen foliage and pop it into a bin liner. If the leaves are dry, dampen them slightly, then poke some holes in the bag.
Secure it loosely and tuck the bags away somewhere discreet for a couple of years.
Alternatively, you could make an enclosure using chicken wire and wooden stakes. Just pile your leaves inside the structure, making sure it’s tucked in a sheltered corner so they won’t scatter in the wind.
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