I have used Michaelmas Daisy plants to split my allotment into four rotation beds for the last 6 years and they look fab when they flower and my allotment looks so pretty (it also reminds me of my late grandad who's birthday was on 'Michaelmas Daisy day' 29th Sept).
Anyway last year i took over the two allotments either side of me as no one wanted them (there isn't a waiting list on our site and we still have allotments to spare). I split my Michaelmas Daisys in autumn and they are poking there heads up now on my new plots.....
What i want to know....is it ok to mulch around them with leftover autumn leaves to stop the weeds until they are fully established? I think i read somewhere that it can take nutrients out of the soil and rob the plants but isn't that what nature does with leaves and Michaelmas Daisys seem to be so robust?
What do you all think?
If the leaves are squidgy I don't see why not, dry ones will harbour nasties esp. slugs. Tread it down well and a good depth 3-4" and the daisies will love it. Not many nutrients in them mind but just for suppressing they should be ok.
They are the leaves that the council dropped at our allotment in the Autumn, so they are a little bit rotted but no where near rotten enough to use as leaf mould