Yes... drives me nuts. But it's not my fence. Also lets the kids talk to each other a bit easier though.
My trees are littering
- Thread starter Boxerdaddy
- Start date
Yes... drives me nuts. But it's not my fence. Also lets the kids talk to each other a bit easier though.
Went through that for 20 years. Tons of mature oaks. Very nice until fall. Then they drop leaves. Slowly. All fall. Until about 90 percent are down. Then you get the rest in the spring.
And they DO NOT decompose like literally every other kind of leaf. They are like pieces of cloth and stay limber and together for a long time.
Tried lots of things.
Best solution was to wait as long as possible. Mulch them in the mower to reduce volume. Fortunately my brother lived next door and had a burn area (out in the country/subdivision) so we'd burn them. It took several days sometimes. We had a rider with a bagger and would go around and then dump - then go around and dump etc.
You could usually do both yards in about 3-4 hours start to finish if conditions were good. Still had bushes and stuff to hand rake though.
Then did it again about Late November and again in the spring. Of course those ended up mixed with grass clipping so didn't always burn so nice.
Thankfully I moved away about 10 years ago. Have a nice little yard with only one pin oak and some other easy peasy grind-up-able leaf producing trees.
Don't miss that AT ALL.
And they DO NOT decompose like literally every other kind of leaf. They are like pieces of cloth and stay limber and together for a long time.
Tried lots of things.
Best solution was to wait as long as possible. Mulch them in the mower to reduce volume. Fortunately my brother lived next door and had a burn area (out in the country/subdivision) so we'd burn them. It took several days sometimes. We had a rider with a bagger and would go around and then dump - then go around and dump etc.
You could usually do both yards in about 3-4 hours start to finish if conditions were good. Still had bushes and stuff to hand rake though.
Then did it again about Late November and again in the spring. Of course those ended up mixed with grass clipping so didn't always burn so nice.
Thankfully I moved away about 10 years ago. Have a nice little yard with only one pin oak and some other easy peasy grind-up-able leaf producing trees.
Don't miss that AT ALL.
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How do you rake leaves when there's 5 inches of snow on them?
I ‘mulched’ mike this year. Just ran them through the mower until they disappeared into the grass. Has so many I didn’t think it would work, but it did.
I basically mowed them into the trunk of the tree and then mowed that back out away from the tree a couple times. Worked better than I thought it would.
I basically mowed them into the trunk of the tree and then mowed that back out away from the tree a couple times. Worked better than I thought it would.
Too much snow right now, but I have never bagged our yard. A massive oak in our backyard.
Drop the mulching mower to its lowest setting and start pushing. Wait till very dry, leaves pretty much dissolve and the biomass decomposes over winter. Adds nutrients and improves the soil. Mother Nature has operated this way for much longer than mankind has tried to get rid of leaves.
Drop the mulching mower to its lowest setting and start pushing. Wait till very dry, leaves pretty much dissolve and the biomass decomposes over winter. Adds nutrients and improves the soil. Mother Nature has operated this way for much longer than mankind has tried to get rid of leaves.
Freaking oak trees. Didn’t START dropping leaves until December last year. Massive amounts of acorns this year. Your description of the leaves is spot on. There are 3 ancient oak trees that surround the northeast edge of our property. Absolutely brutal.
The few that have fallen so far this year already clogged up my drainage system for the driveway area directly in front of the garage.
My neighbor has a huge Southern Magnolia on his side of the property line. Gives my house nice afternoon shade from the Texas sun.
But those leaves are sunsabiches.
But those leaves are sunsabiches.
I'd say half my neighbors pay to have guys come do it. I can't because most of my lot is shade garden that needs raking and I have a couple hundred hostas that need to have their leaves ripped off by hand. The longer i wait the deader and softer the hostas get for ripping off. None of these hired crews would have a clue about raking or hand clearing even if their companies offer that as a service. They only know how to run backback blowers and and big vacuums. They would pretty much just vacuum up all of my mulch and destroy my evergreen vinca and pachysandra ground cover. And there is at least two bags worth of leaves on my roof. I bought 50 bags, might be enough for my small lot. Maybe.
Whenever I get old enough to have to move out I need to sell this place in the summer when some clueless buyer will look at the beautiful landscaping and not think about how much maintenance is going into making it look this nice. "Hey, honey, check out this itty bitty grass area. I bet I can mow that in 15 minutes or less!"
Whenever I get old enough to have to move out I need to sell this place in the summer when some clueless buyer will look at the beautiful landscaping and not think about how much maintenance is going into making it look this nice. "Hey, honey, check out this itty bitty grass area. I bet I can mow that in 15 minutes or less!"
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Can we get a dry weekend soon to actually do this stuff?
Just this week, Over half the leaves I expect dropped. One stupid tree is holding out.
Just this week, Over half the leaves I expect dropped. One stupid tree is holding out.
Mow the law shorter. Haven't raked leaves once this year.
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/yard-and-garden-proper-iowa-mowing-practices
I'm at 2 1/2 inches right now
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/yard-and-garden-proper-iowa-mowing-practices
I'm at 2 1/2 inches right now
Yaaaaaaa...i have one of those...and I don't think you have as many leaves as I do. The first year I collected 14 bags of leaves. And that was only about 2/3rds. Then I just push them into a pile and leave them for the winter or they'll kill my grass. But they don't really disintegrate like i hoped.I've finally gotten to the point where I can wait until they're all down before I start bagging them up. (It's tough when you have OCPD.) I like to use my Black & Decker Leaf Hogg - I rake them into a pile, then vac them up and dump into lawn bags. The Leaf Hogg mulches them up fine, and you can get way more into the bags that way.
I actually tried this. The tree in question is actually on city property according to lot lines (It's in what appears to be my front yard). The city was nice enough to come trim in the winter but wouldn't take it out. It drops dead branches and crap all..year...long... The trimmings did help quite a bit but still...soooooo...many...leaves....
Here's a picture from my yard several years ago. And that isn't all the trees' leaves yet. Probably averages 12" deep in most the yard, with areas double that.
Ain't no way to mulch that much leaves.
Ain't no way to mulch that much leaves.
Here's a picture from my yard several years ago. And that isn't all the trees' leaves yet. Probably averages 12" deep in most the yard, with areas double that.
Ain't no way to mulch that much leaves.
Its probably possible but you'd have to be out there mowing daily. .
My condolencesHere's a picture from my yard several years ago. And that isn't all the trees' leaves yet. Probably averages 12" deep in most the yard, with areas double that.
Ain't no way to mulch that much leaves.
I used to rake but gave up on it and adopted the mow with a bagger about every 3 days approach. It works fine as long as you don't let it get out of control.