Don’t get me wrong – I love leaves, when they’re on trees!
Even when they fall off, I can pick them up and admire them like anyone else. It’s just…when there’s so many of them and it’s wet and windy. They leave patches on lawns and I spend half of my time chasing the rest, rake in hand, around the garden!
Leaf mould is wonderful though, especially mixed with compost. I’m making leaf mould I tell myself. Or rather, the leaves are making the leaf mould and I’m the leafkeeper, the keeper of leaves, herding the stray down from roofs and out of bushes.
It’s amazing what you can find under a leaf. Worms with their babies, toads sheltering from the rain. I even found money under a leaf once!
A few years ago, I was asked to forget my gardening duties and look for Mrs Forbes’s (not real name) wedding ring. I searched everywhere, especially among the piles of leaves at the bottom of the garden. It became an obsession, two hours of gardening, a cup tea, then both of us searching for the ring.
We never found it, sadly.
Oh well, I suppose if there were no leaves, there would be no trees. Spring is here and the buds are already forming and the blossoms are a beautiful sight. I can put my rake away soon!