Leaf Vacuum/mulcher

[Madasafish]

............and the longer you leave it the harder it sets...........best vaccing leaves when dry & crisp.

I always clean tools after use.. from years of making sure they lasted... (I was educated in Aberdeen in the niceties of meanness)

[Bigmallly]

No there is definitely no blockage BM, checked for that first.

Did you access the shredding blade as that's where mine was blocked?

[Madasafish]

Mine was blocked round the shredding blade. I used an old bicycle tyre lever - metal bent at a right angle - to clear around the cavity surrounding the blade. Not difficult when the material is still damp.

Given our heavy ground, when dry it would be like poor quality concrete...

Edit
To give an idea of the size of the problem of leaves, in the garden we have 1 oak and two birches over 20 meters high, and about 15 trees under 20 meters. In the adjacent field - within 20 meters of our garden - are two oaks well over 100 years old and at least 30 meters high .

Leaf pile is 2 x2 meters x 1 meter high ish.

[Bigmallly]

Given our heavy ground, when dry it would be like poor quality concrete...

Mine was, I had to carefully chip away at it..................lesson learned.

[ESBkevin]

Sort of relevant... We planted a load of trees three years ago. They are now maturing nicely - hurrah, but now have all dropped their leaves - boo. Anyway, I've been gathering up all the leaves and throwing them onto the borders. The idea is, this is what happens in nature, the leaves will break down and be taken into the soil be worms etc. BUT, now I've tidily and painstaking done all this, and the garden is leaf-less looking and tidy... Have I done the right thing? Or, have I just made a lovely winter home in every border of my garden for slugs and snails to hang out?!!! ������

That is a very good solution and yes that is what nature doe. They only possible down side is that the birds discover all the nice slugs, bugs, worms and insects in the dead of winter and scratch about in the mulch pulling it over paths and lawn edges. Easy to tidy up and only in small areas usually. The benefit to the soil being well worth the effort. If the leaves are mulched in a 'cage' or black bags first they are less prone to being blown about and messed up by the wildlife.

[Madasafish]

That is a very good solution and yes that is what nature doe. They only possible down side is that the birds discover all the nice slugs, bugs, worms and insects in the dead of winter and scratch about in the mulch pulling it over paths and lawn edges. Easy to tidy up and only in small areas usually. The benefit to the soil being well worth the effort. If the leaves are mulched in a 'cage' or black bags first they are less prone to being blown about and messed up by the wildlife.

I leave mine in a BIG pile.

I do not mulch borders with dry leaves - only with rotted down leaves.

The blackbirds in our garden love turning over dead leaves to find insects to eat.. they can easily move half the dry leaves along the border onto the path/lawn - in a day...

(We still have lots of dry leaves left in corners for them to turn and find insects.. )