How do you deal with leaves in the fall?

[ejpint]

We're living with massive trees for the first time. Our last house was in a new development, so we had just two mid-sized trees. We're now on a large lot with tons of enormous, old trees. Gorgeous, but it's like fall threw up in our yard.

We have a small leaf blower that my dad gave us, but the quantity is overwhelming. We just need to get the leaves to the curb, where the city has basically a giant vacuum on wheels that drives around and sucks up the leaves once a week.

If you have a larger lot, do you just rake? I can't imagine how much time that would take. Any other leaf management tips?

[Deleted]

landscaper.

sorry, i got nothing.

[thatgirl2478]

I know where you're coming from - our previous lot though tiny - was surrounded by massive old maples & was apparently the leaf vortex for the whole neighborhood...

We used the leaf blower to get the leaves organized into a pile, but then we raked them onto a large tarp which we dragged to the curb for the city to pick up.

[aurora]

Our lot is actually small, but with 3 large mature deciduous trees we spend many hours each week raking in the fall. I don't think there's an easy answer; sorry.

[keweenawlove]

That happened in my yard yesterday too. We pretty much just got the leaves to the front curb by brute force. It took the two of us a few hours to do everything. I've seen some people rake sections onto a tarp and then drag that to the curb so they're not raking them the whole distance.

[ejpint]

Oct 4, 2012 10:33:23 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

I know where you're coming from - our previous lot though tiny - was surrounded by massive old maples & was apparently the leaf vortex for the whole neighborhood...

We used the leaf blower to get the leaves organized into a pile, but then we raked them onto a large tarp which we dragged to the curb for the city to pick up.

Tarp is a good idea, thanks!

[definitelyO]

DH uses the lawn mower with a bag and then he dumps the mulched leaves into our compost pile. he also has a leaf blower that he uses on the patio (not as easy to blow off the grass)

[Deleted]

We rake, mostly because we both like it. We do it together as family time on the weekends, but sometimes I'll do either the front or back on my own when DH is on his 6 days/week schedule.

[chessie]

As the leaves fall we do some work. We have a leaf vacuum attachment on our tractor, but you still need to rake in the smaller areas to groom the entire area. Usually takes 2 full weekends when we allow them to fully drop. Mulch, put in the manure pile to make compost for either dirt we will need for garden or wherever we need dirt.

[livinitup]

My DH uses the mower without a bag and it mulches and gets left on the lawn, its good for the lawn. But you can't do that if the leaves are too deep.

[lindyanne]

We used a tarp too. Made everything as easy as it could.

[CloudBee]

We rake, use tarps, and also use a blower. It's not fun, but we do it together, and usually go out after having breakfast on a brisk weekend morning. We try to make it fun.

We could bag the leaves up and leave them at the foot of our driveway, but we usually dump them over the fence into a small wooded area behind our house.

ETA: We usually rake over a few weekends, right as the leaves start to fall. If the leaves get wet and heavy, and you wait to do it all at once, they can damage the lawn.

[cjeanette]

Oct 4, 2012 10:42:39 GMT -5 livinitup said:

My DH uses the mower without a bag and it mulches and gets left on the lawn, its good for the lawn. But you can't do that if the leaves are too deep.

We do this as well. It's my flower beds that I have issues with.

[kellbell191]

We had to rake an acre last year and it sucked. Do you have a ride on lawn mower? If you get the leaf bagger attachment which is like $120 it should get the leaves just fine

[Susie]

We rake and/or use the lawn mower to suck them up. Our town has a truck come around to suck them up from the curb too. It's a pain.

[stephm0188]

We mulch them into the grass with the mower. I leave them in the flowerbeds over the winter and mulch them in with a hoe when spring rolls around.

[kathybela]

Oct 4, 2012 10:33:23 GMT -5 thatgirl2478 said:

I know where you're coming from - our previous lot though tiny - was surrounded by massive old maples & was apparently the leaf vortex for the whole neighborhood....

This was us but our city doesn't do the vacuum thing - all leaves & plant matter have to be put into paper leaf bags which are then picked up by the recycling people between April & November. We had a small corner lot and a leaf vac that mulched the leaves and we still put out about 40 bags each fall. I now live in a condo so don't have to deal with that anymore!!

[leapfrog]

We live with massive old trees, and lots of them. We only have a small electric leaf blower, which DH sometimes uses, but it's so inefficient. We rake onto a tarp and put them into a mulch pile in the corner of our yard. Our lot is not HUGE, but it's not small either...about 1/3 acre, so it takes at least a full day of blowing, raking, and moving to get it done.
Our neighbors got a couple of guys to come and do their yard last year, and we may try to see if we can get a group discount this year.

[chessie]

Dont get alarmed over anything, take sections, take a little bit over the course of a week, weekends, etc. We have a few acres and we space it out. The deal is to stay on top of it, invest in good tools, a good leaf vacuum is around 800, not including the hose attachment, but it was something we use fall and spring.