Even though they do seem brown and ugly, old perennial stalks are probably holding leaf mulch and can be left in place.

The ground was damp, and the leaf mulch silent under his feet.

Much better leaf mulches are the crisp leaves of oaks, which tend to fall later in the year.

The roots are covered in leaf mulch and manure, and the shoots are trimmed twice a year.

The roadbed must have been made of a few centuries of leaf mulch.

Azaleas are shallow rooted and the natural leaf mulch keeps surface roots cool and prevents soil erosion.

It was reportedly first discovered on leaf mulch in Highgate Woods, north London.

But be sure to remove the leaf mulch in early spring, when the growing season begins.

The annual drift of leaves disintegrates entirely, and that's the mud: centuries of leaf mulch.

The natural leaf mulch was swept away to expose roots of the shallowly rooted ornamentals.