Agree

thanks to all, good idea ,have a nice christmas and a happy new

One drawback, and at this time of year it doesn't matter. But if the leaves have not completely rotted by end of February/early March, your plants will be a bit short of nitrogen, since the breakdown process of the leaves takes up nitrogen from the soil. If the layer is thin and sparse, it'll be okay, but if deep, that could be an issue, though it rather depends what plants you've used it around - large trees and shrubs won't be troubled, smaller plants may be.

hi bamboo,i will see what there like in july and see how far there rotted they take a long time to rot. thanks

July's too late, the growing season has more or less closed by then, its April and May you need to worry about from the nitrogen point of view. You could always sprinkle a fair bit of Growmore and turn it into the soil in April and May to offset the problem.