Leaf Clearance in Cambridge

Leaves cleared off the lawn, out of borders, and off paths, patios and steps, then taken off site. Blowers are used on open lawn and rakes and hands where leaves are packed into planting or against fences, because a blower in a border moves mulch and small plants along with the leaves.

Gutters, roofs and anything needing a ladder above head height are not part of the service. Drain covers and gullies in the garden are cleared where they can be reached safely, since blocked gullies are a common cause of standing water after autumn rain.

Leaf clearance combines efficiently with a final autumn mow, a hedge cut or a border cutback in the same visit. Those are charged at their own rates, published on the services page, on top of the clearance package.

If you would rather keep the leaves, say so and they are stacked where you want them instead of removed, by agreement at the time of the quote. Leaves rotted down on their own make leafmould, which the RHS recommends as a soil improver and mulch, and it costs you nothing but space and patience.

Leafmould is a slow process: a year or more for a rough mulch and two years for a fine one, in a wire bin or in bin bags with a few holes punched in them, kept damp. Leaves from the lawn can also be collected with the mower on a high cut, which shreds them and speeds the rotting up.

A thick layer of leaves blocks light and holds moisture at the surface. Grass under it goes pale and thin, and damp still conditions favour lawn diseases such as fusarium patch. How quickly that shows depends on how wet the autumn is, how deep the layer is and what the leaves are, so there is no fixed number of days at which damage begins.

The practical rule is not to let a covering sit on the lawn and build up through the peak fall. Clearing every week or two through late October and November suits most Cambridge gardens with mature trees, and a single visit is often enough where there is one small tree or leaves blow in from next door.

Wet leaves on paths, steps and patios are a slip risk worth taking as seriously as the lawn, and they are cleared as part of the same visit.

Your postcode, the approximate garden area in square metres, and a photograph of the garden with the leaves down. That is enough to place it in the light, medium or heavy tier and give you a fixed per-visit price rather than an estimate that moves on the day.

Also useful: how many mature trees overhang the garden, whether you want one visit or the three-visit season pass, whether the leaves should be removed or kept for leafmould, and whether there is side-gate access so nobody needs to be home.