As trees across the country continue to lose the last of their leaves, many Aussies might be wondering how to keep their gardens neat and tidy.
Sydney gardener Nathan Stafford has revealed his “best gardening hack” to clear up pesky seasonal foliage in an instant — all without clogging up your garden bin.
Speaking to Yahoo News this week, the popular mower man, from Nathan’s Lawn and Gardens, shared a problem often expressed by Aussies.
“If you want to rake all those leaves up and put them in a bin, your bin is full in two seconds,” he said.
But Aussies need just one of two tools to solve the issue — a lawn mower or a line trimmer.
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Simply give the leaves a whiz inside the bin to chop them up, which saves on space.
(Nathan Stafford/Yahoo News Australia)
The first hack is to use a line trimmer to mulch down the leaves. Simply dump the foliage into the bin and get out the tool.
“Push it down like a blender [to chop up the leaves] and that whole bin can be gone from full to about 5 centimetres worth of leaves in minutes,” Stafford said.
Be careful with the line trimmer’s power and always wear safety goggles and gloves, he warned.
“And don’t do it near cars or windows,” he added
For those without a line trimmer, you could opt for a lawn mower instead. But with this one, you do the chopping before offloading the debris into the bin.
“If you run the lawn mower over [the pile of leaves] and mulch them all down, you will fit so much more in the bin,” Stafford said of hack number two.
He said homeowners and renters alike will be “surprised at how much” they can fit into the garden bin once it’s turned to mulch. But you can also sprinkle it through your garden, too.
Impressed Aussies said they “must try” Nathan’s idea next time they spend some time in the garden.
The gardener advised mowing over foliage to break it down before dumping it into the bin.
Why should seasonal leaves be composted?
While seasonal leaves can be unsightly, they can also be problematic. Last week, the Northern Beaches Council in Sydney reported a surge in blocked drains caused by falling leaves.
Residents are being urged to consider composting their environmental waste, which will give the soil a boost of nutrients.
Stafford agrees broken down leaves are “fantastic nutrients” for lawns and soil.
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