Leaf Litter In Winter - Clay Soils - December 2025
I've mentioned that Winter snow came early this year and that cut-short some of my typical garden cleanup. It also dropped most of the leaves on the Frans Fontaine Hornbeams that normally hang around all Winter. And, those two things - snow packing down and leaves falling - has created a full bed of leaf litter at the feet of the Hornbeams. Below is a photo showing the fallen leaves that have been matted-down by the heavy snow (that has since melted). Just in FRONT of these trees is the newly-expanded Pizza Oven bed. That bed is full of clay soil. One of the things I've been talking about doing this Winter is amending the clay soil to make it a little bit more hospitable to gardening next year - especially with more dahlias on their way. My first thought was to utilize municipal biosolids and just pile it ON TOP OF THE CURRENT MULCH. But, now, seeing this leave litter, I'm thinking that I should try to rake it up on top of the clay b...