How are your oaks?

[veggiechicken]

The oak trees in the garden are just changing colour and losing the first of their leaves. The ash trees have been totally bare for weeks. Likewise the wild cherry. What is the situation where you live?

[northepaul]

Oak tree at the allotment has completely covered our allotment with leaves - still more to come though. My apple at second allotment still has green leaves!! Next Door's birch tree has been dropping steadily. We are quite far south though - probably warmer (?)

[jacob marley]

We have had a fantastic crop of acorns if you like that sort of thing .
And now the leaves are falling millions of them old gal marley gathered up 3 barrow loads of them this morning and took them back into the wood..jacob

[binley100]

Our fruit trees at home , apple, plum and cherry , still have their leaves.........

[Bren In Pots]

Our Silver Birch is almost bare of leaves, Mountain ash only has berries left but the apple trees are still in full leaf.

[VirginVegGrower]

Silver birches losing their leaves but not fully deleafed, oaks are losing leaves rapidly - everywhere covered but still loads on, our two huge limes are 85% deleafed, the beeches are shedding rapidly too but lots still to come. The two copse areas are very much green still, minimal yellowing/browning.
Squirrels working overtime
Lots of buzzard activity.

[VirginVegGrower]

Forgot to say that I have been raking solidly for last six weeks or more. One very large wire cage full.

[veggiechicken]

Been for a walk in the beech woods this afternoon; they're starting to lose their leaves but the fallen ones are too wet and sticky for kicking! The squirrels have been burying acorns in the greenhouse already. Just dug some up. I usually miss some and find baby oaklets amongst the rocket in the spring.

[HeyWayne]

All the Ash has pretty much shed their load. The Oak holds on to loads up until I go out and sweep/rake them up. Then it sh*ts the rest on the garden.

[VirginVegGrower]

Same here HW - it's called s0ds law

[veggiechicken]

There was once a Japanese tea master who, expecting important visitors to his autumn garden, raked up all the stale fallen leaves and then shook the branches of his trees so that a scattering of still-brilliant ones fell across the lawn - and thus his garden was perfect.

[snohare]

That must have been a great re-leaf to him, I'll bet it suited them to a tea.

Personally I've raked up about half a tonne builder's bag of oak leaves in the last week, for the allotment; there was the same again to fetch, which I am hoping to get tomorrow. That's in Aberdeen where a lot of trees, particularly the decorative cherries, seem a bit slow to shed leaves; here in the village, just about every tree is bare of limb, some like the ash lost their leaves almost overnight weeks ago. Autumn, like spring, has passed in an eyeblink, with weird temperatures and unexpected growing habits in the garden.

Still, that's oak-y !

[veggiechicken]

I just wanted everyone who was stressed by clearing up fallen leaves to see the beauty in them.
To be honest, I leave mine where they fall. Some get chopped up in the lawnmower - but that's all finished now til next year. A gust of wind will move the rest for me into a heap and I rake that onto the nearest bare bit of soil.
Fallen leaves are Nature's fleece!

[solway cropper]

Fallen leaves are Nature's fleece!

They also make some of nature's best free compost

[veggiechicken]

Fallen leaves are Nature's fleece!

They also make some of nature's best free compost

Every spring a little old man in a battered red van would come to our local beech woods and collect sacks of leaf mould in which to grow his tomatoes. Every autumn he would return to fill his sacks with sticks for his fire. I called him the Stick man and used to look out for him and his ancient dog. I haven't seen him for years. Maybe its my turn to collect leafmould and sticks.