I have spent the last thirty years trying to get some substance and water retention into our dry sandy soil. A few years ago I try to make leaf mould in old compost bags. I checked the bags at 6 months, 1 year, 18 months…  and found… a pile of soggy leaves.

Yet I still felt that autumn leaves were too precious to put in the municipal compost bins. So I netted off an area under the trees at the back of the garden and just threw leaves in there… and there they stayed year after year looking like dead leaves.

Then a couple of years ago I was clearing a corner by the water butts
and found the original bags full of… leaf mould! This year my husband pointed out that the area I had netted off had… turned into leaf mould. I found another log and ivy-infested area between the trees at the back of the garden.

And,  with the help of a robin or two (he’s in there somewhere) I cleared this, netted it,  and filled it with leaves. All I have to do now is wait for five years…And this is where the hedgehog may be about to hibernate (he is still feeding)  After all those unexciting images here are some November blooms.