For all your leaf-rakers out there

[ksmith]

Just wondering..

[Poll #593549]

Comments

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

Well....actually...I don't rake them really. See, I wait to see how many leaves are left after the Fall and Winter windstorms have gone, then, I rake the remaining leaves out of the flower beds and let the Spring winds take them and the lawn care guy can mow the rest. *The guilty trees aren't even mine*.
The end row corner fence aerodynamics make this possible.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

The concept of Windstorm Rakeage used to work for me until I had the backyard fenced.

And they are my trees, so I feel responsible...

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Fenced it in! You're doomed. :-)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Leaves had a habit of vanishing in my pre-fence days.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Two words: "Controlled Burn."

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

A concept. However:

Suburban neighborhood.

Burn ban.

Asthma.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

Fair enough...they wouldn't let me have a fire at Scotchtoberfest either.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Left out The Middle Way, which is to let them pile up for a while, rake, and repeat. Our yard gets quite leafy, but since the driveway runs under the sideyard maple, we can't wait for _all_ the leaves to fall or parking gets . . . interesting. Like in, hot catalytic converter resting in dry leaves . . .

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Like in, hot catalytic converter resting in dry leaves . . .

Good point.

[ferragus.livejournal.com]

Of course, what ever the groundskeeper decides to do with them is really Ok with me.

(Yeah I may live in fantasyland, but it's a nice view ;)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Gee, and I only fantasize about hiring a landscaping service.

Note to self: Think Bigger.

[jennifer-dunne.livejournal.com]

I get most of my leaves (now that the evil catalpa tree in my neighbor's backyard is gone) from my black walnut tree, and that's an early leafer. So I (or actually, my lawn guy) wait for the nuts and leaves to fall from that, rake them up, then do as-needed rakeage of other leaves that blow onto the lawn from elsewhere.

[madmoravian.livejournal.com]

I let the leaves fall until the lawn needs mowing. then I mow over them with the mulching mower. Voila, leaf chum!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Do you have oak trees? I need to reread the manual that came with the lawnmower, but they advise treating the trees in the spring to alter the pH of the leaves IF you plant to use the mower to mulch the leaves. I'm wondering if acid/base exposure pits the aluminum undercarriage of the mower.

I always hose-clean the mower after use, but maybe that's not enough. And if I do risk damaging my not-cheap mower by mulching leaves, I'd rather just play it safe and rake the things. Gives me something to do when I'm outside watching the Boyz brutalize one another.