We are surrounded by Sycamore and Ash but I've never done it- we have lots of strong winds and most of the leaves seem to accumulate eventually on various parts of the paths. Those get swept up every so often and heaped up for compost.The rest I just leave and they settle and disappear in due course as they get heavy and soggy with all the rain we get.. Sorry to not be more helpful. But in the wild, plants get covered anyway and seem to survive? We do appear to have much better soil and more worms than when we came so its not all bad...

we also have lots of deciduous trees all around the boundaries and I also just leave them alone in the majority of the borders. though if they cover the cyclamen flowers I do get on my knees and carefully remove them by hand. grass gets the mower run over the leaves to cut up and collect the leaves before bagging.

I do try to remove leaves from evergreen plants, like Dianthus and Cyclamen, but it is getting harder to bend down these days.
I wish the leaves which land on the soil here did get taken down by worms, but all that seems to happen here is that they just stay as they are and then in Spring they get blown all over the place again.
Nice thing is that I do have a couple of tons now of really good leaf mould, ready to use.

Forgot to mention that we find the leaves on the soil are the ideal home for slugs.

I have reached the stage where the only remedy I can think of for my gardening challenges is age reversal tablets, and so far have been unable to find a stockist. I have had some wood chips for ages and can't raise the energy to spread them... But your leaf mould sounds wonderful. .We have so much rain here in winter that the leaves on the beds are mostly too soggy to blow about much...

How do I remove the leaves? I don't. They offer a blanket of protection from the searing cold and erosion. I only clear the walk and driveway

I know exactly what you mean about the leaves on beds not being pulled down into the soil by worms. The sycamore leaves are tough and I think that makes it harder for the worms. I do leave them on the beds but tend to shift them gradually as they don't all go soggy and blend in. Slugs need somewhere to hide so it's good to give them that. They are a flippin nuisance at times but not all bad.
My red oak leaves are always bagged up for leafmould and as you have tons of it, I'm jealous. Wonderful stuff.
As I get older I tend to pay a handyman to do the jobs I now find it hard to carry out.
In January i will be looking beneath some of the frizzled up leaves in case they are blocking the light for sprouting bulbs. My garden is not a tidy one and that is how we like it. Better for wildlife. I bet yours is teeming with insects like beetles and it's all good for the birds isn't it? I loved Bill Oddie's slogan "Sat yes to mess!".

Trouble with leaving the leaves on top of green plants is that in this part of Britain it does not really get cold enough for them to need a nice warm blanket of leaves. And many plants here do not go truly dormant as they do in colder climes. That leads to the problem of them rotting underneath the leaves.
As for insects, yes there are now a lot more of them than when we arrived. In our last garden, the compost heap was grew with wood lice at times. Not here they seem to be few and far between.
One of our Asters the other day must have had well over 250 bees, wasps and hoverflies on it. Lovely to see and hear.

Here in New York, we get hit with huge winter storms from all angles. The leaves usually disappear by Spring time. Even the dry Arctic wind we get from Canada will parch the ground and cause plants to heave. A layer of leaves will prevent it.

I missed "Say yes to mess" What a wonderful slogan for cheering you up when it all gets a bit much!