This month's wind and rain have whisked the last leaves from the trees, leaving them in soggy heaps on lawns and driveways. Don't even consider burning them or putting them out with the household rubbish. Rather, collect them to make leaf mould, a gorgeous crumbly substance that can be used instead of peat as a soil conditioner, or as an ingredient in potting compost.
Trample the leaves into a wire cage, or bin bags pierced with holes, and leave for two years to rot down (gardening promotes great patience). Water during dry spells. Leaves decay with the help of fungus - unlike the compost heap, which is bacteria-driven - so their decomposition proceeds at a cool and leisurely pace. If you have access to a garden shredder, whizzing them through it will speed up the process.
Beech and oak make the best leaf mould, with a lovely open texture. Some gardeners go into the woods to gather the leaf mould that nature has made over the years, but really, they shouldn't. If we all did so it would deplete the forest floor of its musty, moist covering - a necessary part of the woodland ecology.