on fall leaves and watering trees

The Mountain Ash tree in my back shade garden is finally starting to change colour.  It is such a gorgeous tree!  I feel very lucky to have it.

And in case you're not following the Calgary garden talk on facebook, here is a recent post I linked to about how to water your trees in fall.  Basically, stop watering in mid-September .  Once deciduous trees have lost their leaves, water once more with a soaker hose under the drip line.  Water evergreens in late fall just before the ground freezes as they use water throughout the winter.

And speaking of leaves, here are a few links regarding using fall leaves in the garden.  Don't let those valuable leaves go to waste!  Rake them onto the garden, add them to the compost bin, or bag them up and make leaf mold!

• How to make leaf mold in a bag from Calgary Garden Coach, Nov 2009
• Leaves valuable as mulch, compost from The Columbus Dispatch
• Making leafmoud - gardener's gold from growveg.com