Autumn leaves cloak Botanic Gardens in gold

Falling autumn leaves are giving Christchurch’s Botanic Gardens a golden glow.

19-month-old Maddison Inch plays among the autumn leaves at the Botanic Gardens.

As temperatures fall, the Gardens’ oak, maple, beech and sycamore trees are losing their leaves.

While the thick carpet of crunchy leaves is proving irresistible for kids visiting the Gardens, it is adding considerably to the workload of the small team who keep the Gardens in tip-top shape.

Tonnes of leaves have to be raked, swept, mown and blown from paths and lawns on an almost daily basis. In the height of autumn, cleaning up the leaves can take two to three hours each day.

Most of the leaves end up in a mountainous heap in South Hagley Park, where they are regularly turned and left to compost for up to two years. The resulting leaf mulch gets reused under trees and in borders in the Gardens.

“Cleaning up the leaves before they pile up and damage the grass is a huge job. On the plus side, the rich autumn colours make it a great time to visit the Botanic Gardens, particularly with children, because there’s nothing more fun when you’re kid than playing in a pile of crunchy leaves,’’ says Botanic Gardens Operations Team Leader Bede Nottingham.

*If you’re planning on visiting the Botanic Gardens this autumn, check out the seasonal highlights map before you go.