Before you reach for the rake this weekend, take a leaf out of the woodland's book. Here's how to turn autumn's free bounty into food for wildlife, richer soil and a fair bit of fun.
As the leaves turn gold, orange and red and drift down across gardens, paths and lawns, it's tempting to rake, blow and bag the lot. But the experts at Woodlands.co.uk are urging us to think twice before throwing them away.
Every autumn, nature's biggest recycling operation gets underway, and millions of tonnes of fallen leaves are fed back into the ecosystem. Take a walk through any deciduous wood and you'll see a very different approach to tidying up. Fungi, bacteria and a remarkable cast of small creatures slowly break the leaves down where they land, returning goodness to the soil and creating food and shelter for wildlife along the way.
Richard Scholfield at Woodlands.co.uk says we can all borrow a few tricks from the woodland floor. Rather than trying to remove every last leaf, here's how to put them to good use.
1. Create a wildlife corner
You don't have to let leaves cover the whole garden. Rake some into a quiet corner, under a hedge or around established shrubs, and leave them be.
Decaying leaves support worms, woodlice, beetles and lots of other minibeasts, which in turn feed birds, hedgehogs, frogs and toads. Add a few twigs or small logs and you'll create even more nooks and crannies for wildlife to shelter in over winter.
It may look a little less manicured, but underneath there's a miniature ecosystem quietly getting on with its business.
2. Make your own leaf mould
If you have lots of leaves, turn them into leaf mould, a rich, crumbly material that works brilliantly as both a mulch and a soil conditioner.
It's wonderfully low-tech. Gather damp leaves into a simple wire-mesh cage, or pop them into old compost or bin bags with a few holes punched in. Keep them damp, then leave nature to do the work.
Unlike a compost heap, leaf mould is made by fungi in a slow, cool process. After a year or two, your pile of autumn leaves becomes dark, earthy leaf mould, ready to go back on the garden.
3. Let leaves protect your plants
Instead of bagging the leaves you clear from lawns and paths, spread some beneath trees, shrubs and established plants.
A good layer of leaves helps the soil hold on to moisture, keeps weeds down and protects the soil surface. With our summers getting warmer and drier, that's a real help to native trees and shrubs.
Worms and other creatures will gradually pull the leaves down into the soil, leaving plenty of room for next autumn's leaf fall.
4. Know where leaves shouldn't stay
Leaving leaves for nature doesn't mean putting the rake away for good.
Thick layers should come off lawns, where they block the light and can damage the grass, and wet leaves on paths, decking and steps can be slippery. Large quantities should also be fished out of ponds before they sink and rot. The trick is not to throw those leaves away, but to move them somewhere they'll be useful.
5. Make it a family job
Leaves are one of the best free toys going. Before you move a pile, let the children jump in it. Then hand them a rake or a bucket and they can help build the wildlife corner, stuff the leaf mould bags and spread leaves under the hedge.
Lift the edge of a leaf pile together a few weeks later to see who has moved in, from woodlice and beetles to the odd sleepy toad. Collect the brightest leaves for rubbings, crowns and collages, or turn your next walk into a nature treasure hunt.
So this autumn, rather than seeing fallen leaves as another job on the list, think of them as a free natural resource. Woodlands have been recycling their leaves rather successfully for millions of years. Perhaps the best thing we can do is resist the urge to improve on the system.
Five autumn leaf myths
"I should rake up every fallen leaf."
Clear lawns, paths and ponds where needed, but leaves beneath hedges, trees and shrubs provide valuable habitat and slowly return goodness to the soil.
"Fallen leaves are just garden waste."
They're actually a free natural resource. Use them as mulch, add them to the compost or turn them into leaf mould.
"Leaf mould is just another name for compost."
Not quite. Leaf mould is made mainly by slow fungal decomposition and can take a year or two to mature.
"A tidy garden is better for wildlife."
Often the opposite is true. Leaf litter shelters minibeasts, which support a whole food chain including birds, frogs, toads and hedgehogs.
"Burning leaves is the easiest way to get rid of them."
Easy, yes, but it wastes useful organic matter and sends the carbon stored in the leaves straight back into the atmosphere. Let nature do the recycling instead.
Woodlands.co.uk offers private woodlands for sale across the UK, with resources and guidance to help owners manage them for wildlife, leisure, conservation and education.