The big oak trees above my garden dropped their leaves over night and made a huge mess. At the same time I’m happy that they’re all gone and I can clean it up in one day.
I usually leave most leaves in the flower beds over winter. They make a great mulch and provide protection for the plants. Oak tree leaves however don’t decompose for at least two seasons and look quite messy during that time. So I try to get rid of them during fall.
The serviceberry glows in the morning sun. It has just begun to turn color and the orange and red leaves are looking beautiful.
We planted this tree in early spring. It’s still quite small but has already given us a taste what it will bring in terms of year-round interest: pretty white blooms in spring, red berries in the summer and gorgeous colors in the fall.
It can grow in sun to part shade. I did read that it needs full sun to get the prettiest fall colors. However, mine get only 6h sun a day and it doing just fine.