What do you do with your leaves when they fall ?

[happyflowerlady]

This year, I left the leaves on the ground over the winter to protect the lawn, so the rain does not erode the soil like it usually does. It does not look as nice as the neighboing yards where everything is all raked up, but my front yard slopes down to the road, and when the rain comes out of the rain gutters, it runs don over the lawn, and has taken off a lot of the dirt, leaving the tree toots exposed.
I am not able to afford having a load of topsoil put on the yard, so i decided to try and replenish it naturally by composting it with leaves, and grass clippings, and then making some raised flowerbeds to cover up the tree roots.
That way, it will stop the rain from just running straight through the yard, and hopefully divert it down the driveway, where it won't hurt the dirt.
How does everyone else deal with this problem ??

 

[firelily99]

I clear the leaves off completely otherwise the grass wouldn't do as well in the spring. Really hard to say what you could do with your problem. The raised flower beds sound like a really good idea, you may try and create a terrace system but that will take quite a bit of labor. When it is terraced - at least in sections - it won't have an unimpeded straight line down to the road.

 

[Kansas Terri]

I run the lawnmower over the fallen leaves, which grinds them up well enough so that the matted leaves do not smother the grass.

I may have to re-think this as the Maple trees are now 3 feet across, and even grinding up the leaves with the mower does not seem to be enough any longer. This year I had my son move some of them to the back of my property.

 

[claudine]

I always leave a few piles of leaves on my lawn, because hedgehogs love sleeping in them
The rest I burn. There is nothing more magical than an autumn bonfire in the middle of the night. Making them is forbidden in my area, but I'd rather break the law than give up on this lovely tradition

 

[ACSAPA]

My old apartment had a yard, so I swept up the leaves and bagged them for the bulk trash pickup day. Now that I live in an apartment complex, the leaves are not my problem, so I just take care of my container plants and leave the rest to the landscapers.

 

[Andy1982]

This year, I left the leaves on the ground over the winter to protect the lawn, so the rain does not erode the soil like it usually does. It does not look as nice as the neighboing yards where everything is all raked up, but my front yard slopes down to the road, and when the rain comes out of the rain gutters, it runs don over the lawn, and has taken off a lot of the dirt, leaving the tree toots exposed.
I am not able to afford having a load of topsoil put on the yard, so i decided to try and replenish it naturally by composting it with leaves, and grass clippings, and then making some raised flowerbeds to cover up the tree roots.
That way, it will stop the rain from just running straight through the yard, and hopefully divert it down the driveway, where it won't hurt the dirt.
How does everyone else deal with this problem ??

I collect as many as I can and add them to the surface of the grow-tunnel mixed with straw, newspaper and chicken manure tea to break down for 6 months before planting again the following season.

 

[zigs]

I rot the leaves down separate to the compost, as its a fungal process rather than bacterial.

 

[justusforus]

I do put them in the compost. I realize you have pointed out a distinction, but are they a bad thing to compost Zigs?

 

[zigs]

Not a bad thing, but being mainly lignins, they don't get rotted by the bacteria so quickly, just more suited to fungal decay

 

[SunBakedParadise]

This Ted Talk changed my whole perspective on composting leaves....I used to rake them into a forbidden corner and leave them there. I learned to take much greater care and put more value in them.

 

[Hedonologist]

I have always just raked them up and put them into the organic waste bin. without really giving any of it much thought. Most of them will get picked up by the lawnmower though so most of the leaves that fall in my garden end up getting mixed in with the grass.

 

[warmweatherwoman]

I actually rake them up around the root area of trees in my yard. Just have to be careful not to pile them up against the trunk if you try it. Leaves piled against the trunk can hold in moisture that would lead to decay or rot. And, the leaves could also provide habitat for voles that might chew the bark off the tree.

 

[Mark]

What little amount of leaves I get I just sweep, bag and get rid of at the dump. Pine needles are more of an issue where I live and I usually do the same with them. I should probably get into composting them this year, maybe get a little back out of them.

 

[Shellyann36]

We rake up the leaves and put some of them in the compost pile and then we take the rest and have a huge dump area at the edge of our woods. The leaves in the compost bin we chop up and run over with the lawnmower before adding them to the bin.

We also have several pine trees and the pine needles we rake up and use them as a base/ring around several of the trees in the yard. They never make their way to the compost pile.

 

[zigs]

Chopping them up helps get it going