Two billion and counting….
No, it’s not the national debit, it’s the amount of leaves that somehow has blown back into our small patch of glass, our yard. Last fall I spent way too much time racking and reracking and to no avail. Just looking out the window makes me sick. It looks like I made no effort at all (which maybe I didn’t). There are tons of leaves and pine needles all over.
This is the third location where we’ve lived at where every leave in the neighborhood blows in and settles in our yard no matter the time of year. Our rake should demand overtime wages. Then there are our oaks trees which wait till late spring to drop their dead leaves from the prior year. You’d think that after all these years I’d either wait till late-late spring and give it a one time good overall and that’s it….
Or, maybe I should just let it go. You know that early prairie look that laze people in Illinois have recently came up with. It’s that pre-sod buster look, plant the whole place with wild flowers (weeds) and " four’get-about-it".
I mean we live in the woods, who is going to complain about our rustic yard?
My neighbor? No, that’s OK, he’s my brother and he’s got more leaves than I do maybe I should complain to him. "Pardon me but your leaves are blocking our driveway."
posted by Up North @ 5:16 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Heck- go get your neighbor's snow plow and make a clear path around the driveway. Just tell everyone it's a four seasons Coleman rake. RAKE. NOT RACK. That's for another blog.
You most certainly can leave those leaves on the ground. They will decompose, add nutrients, and create more dirt for Katie to dig up. This is a good thing.
how about a match? no more pesky leaves and, depending on the wind direction, maybe no more pesky neighbors. smokey says high risk of fires.
As you recall, I (er, Dwayne) got rid of every leaf in sight.
Here you go, Bud. There is a way out. Here's Bob Vila's take on everything you wanted to know about raking. What to rake. What not to rake. Save your back. Hire the bellboy to rake the driveway. Leave everything else alone. Mission accomplished. Your back is happy. The dog is happy. The wife is happy. The environmentalists are happy. The neighbors are happy. Your blog-readers (all 3 of them, wait maybe 2) are very happy.
Bob Vila:
A stress encounter group I know, recommends sitting quietly and watching the colored leaves fall. Steal a moment, take a deep breath and a few second pause to the stress of our new electronically chopped up micro-time.
Slowly The Leaves Float To The Ground on sunny Indian-summer days. Sometimes they fly with fury in a whipping wind. You can meditate. Maybe. But in the backyard, the sheer bulk of leaves that flutter down is overwhelming! Who hasn't dragged endless bags of them from one place to another, again and again? To reduce this nagging yard work, first decide which leaves have to go and which can be left where they fall.
Leaves That Have To Go - On walks they become slippery when wet. Too deep on perennial beds can cause crown rot. Leaves serve as comfy snow suits for many fungi and insects. On lawns they cause problems. And what about our current mantra to "Make Compost"?
You Can Leave The Leaves under trees, shrubs and on sturdy ground covers. Over the winter the leaves will self-destruct into compost. In spring, instead of paying for another 2 inches of new bark mulch, you need to just sprinkle enough of the fancy red stuff to cover over the leaves. Experiments have repeatedly shown that the larger the mulched area under any tree, the healthier it is and the faster it grows. Old beech trees really benefit from letting the leaves stay because they feed the biotic activity necessary for healthy roots.
Do Definitely Throw Out (in the garbage), any plants that are troubled by diseases or insects. Those needing fall sanitation include roses, iris, peony, phlox, stalks of spent perennials, vegetables, raspberries, and fruit trees. (If you can get to it, I never truly do finish it all.)
If You Really Love Your Lawn and want decent grass, you have to accept the dreaded leaf chore. But don't just rush out in a swivet and rake the endless fluffy fellows. First mow through them, right on the grass, because this immediately reduces their volume by half. Collect the chopped up bits in the lawnmower bag and pile them up. In 2 weeks this pile will shrink by half again. By spring it'll reduce by another half. The mountain of October leaves will have become a few inches of good compost for summer mulching.
To Make A Compost Pie, throw on some dirt between each foot of leaves and grass clippings. Add water if they're dry. Make as many layers to the pie as you have patience for. You can make compost pie on the vegetable bed if you add a sprinkle of lime or ashes. It can be dug in late November, and the soil formed into raised furrows all ready for earlier spring planting. Raised furrows dry and warm up faster. Or you can wait and just pull the mulch aside in spring. The ground will be soft and ready to plant (which explains the simple essence of that supposedly mysterious science called no-till farming).
Wow. Who knew you could actually find useful information on this blog?
Pay close heed to the section: Leaves that have to go.
I think safety for visitors and residents is a going concern.
I'm a witness that Wobbin, leaves, and fire do not mix. A few years back he raked leaves into several small piles along the driveway. Less than twenty minutes later, several parts of the forest were burning. Woo hoo, that was exciting!
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