Raking leaves has never been part of the program of regular grounds maintenance on the estate. Rather the leaves were mulched as part of the lawn mowing and left to lie where their sliced pieces fell to return to the earth.But today the back part of the estate received a thorough raking. Along with general aesthetic improvement, it is hoped that the thatching will aerate the earth and foster wildflower growth in coming weeks. Several years ago the back part of the estate was left to become a meadow, rich in wildflowers, but in recent years there has been less and less reseeding.
Rather than bag the piles of leaves to be removed from the estate, the leaves were piled in two large heaps; one along the fence row where it will slowly return to the earth; the other near the compost area to be used as an accelerate.
Leaves that fall from trees on the estate will return to those same trees. They will decay in the shadow of those trees and the rain that hastens their decomposition will have fallen from that same tree’s branches. It is as it should be: the passing giving rise to the coming, the old nurturing the new, the circle of life.
Placing the leaves in plastic bags to be hauled to a land fill is not quite the same.