Leaf raking muckraking

[snowthx]

I have a tree our front that looses its leaves first, like around this time of year. Sometimes it comes down pretty quickly, but this year slowly, so I have been out there three times so far and there is still more to come. A 2nd tree out front still has green leaves and they usually do not fall until after the rains start. There is another 2-3 raking events.

Other neighbors have gardeners that seem to take care of their leaves, but I cannot afford that so it’s on me to keep my share of the leaves under control. Also, we got this drought and fire thing going on over here, so having a pile of very dry leaves sitting there is not ideal.

I use a blower to push them into a long pile, then using another blower attachment hoover them up into a bag, and they get shredded along the way, then dumped into the green recycling bin. I always make sure to blow TOWARD my house and yard and away from the street and neighbor’s yard. In fact, I will venture into the neighbor’s yard to blow from his to my yard. Some that land on the lawn just get mowed into the mulch.

[control-z]

My main leaves come from 3 big Maple trees and 1 gum tree. Rest of trees are evergreens. No raking for me, I mow my leaves. I drive in circles and direct the chopped up leaves around the bottom of tree trunks, under spruce trees, and in flowerbeds.

[wguy123]

@control-z

My main leaves come from 3 big Maple trees and 1 gum tree. Rest of trees are evergreens. No raking for me, I mow my leaves. I drive in circles and direct the chopped up leaves around the bottom of tree trunks, under spruce trees, and in flowerbeds.

Bingo! I don’t know why people get rid of leaves: They contain a large amount of nutrients and are easy to compost. We mow them into the catcher and mulch with them. We have so many, we also make a large compost pile out of them and use them in the spring. We also mulch nearly everything we grow and compost it (flowers, tomato and squash vines, etc). We don’t have much need for fertilizer and we garden a lot.

Note: There are some leaves that you shouldn’t compost (black walnut for example). Others supposedly have high tanins and do something bad, but we’ve been mixing in chestnut leaves for years and haven’t had any issues.

[notfrommensa]

@FairyChatMom

Pardon the hijack, but that’s my plan this spring. Our “lawn” is largely moss and weeds and I refuse to put a lot of work into getting a putting green. I just don’t know how well clover will do in our crappy clayful soil. We shall see.

What I really want is the wind to take all our leaves into our neighbors’ yards! Is that too much to ask???

If you asphalt your entire yard, the leaves will have a better chance of blowing into your neighbor’s yards.

Truthfully, I keep my yard mowed a little lower than my neighbors, and I do notice leaves do not gather as much in my yard as much as my neighbor’s.

[Slash1972]

I have small yard in front of my townhouse. I just wait until spring and rake them up before mowing the grass for the first time. I just put the leaves in black trash bags, and the garbage guys take them away.