Leaf season is officially here! I blew and raked up my first leaf pile of the year. And I didn’t panic. Instead I thoroughly enjoyed it in warm mid-September sunshine. And I want everyone to follow my example.
Basic rules
If you have a blower then you can quickly make piles for pick-up. If you’re only armed with a rake then enjoy the exercise. Just remember not to overdo it by raking awesome leafy pyramids. Instead, I humbly suggest putting a tarp close to your pile and raking everything towards it. There are no extra points for gorgeous leafy pyramids, unless you can set the pile on fire.
Always have two tarps handy or whatever you use to collect the leaves. Tarp one collects the bulk; tarp two collects any remnants.
Your rake should be the appropriate size. This isn’t a good time to take out your 8″ rake. Enjoy the sunshine and exercise as you rake.
Quora question
Someone on Quora.com asked me what they could do with their leaves since they didn’t want to dump them into their trash. Great! Let’s pile them and run our mower over them to shred them.
Remember not to make the piles too big so you don’t overwhelm your poor mower engine.
You can then collect your shredded leaves and use them as mulch around your plants and under trees. You can also put them into your compost as a leafy layer.
Leaf hater
Don’t be afraid to leave your leaves under your trees and shrubs. When I worked for a municipal parks department my instinct was to attempt to “clean-up” all leaves. My gardener boss had other ideas, referring to me as a “leaf hater”.
My task for the day was to prune Portuguese laurels (Prunus lusitanica) but my clean-up generated the one leaf pile pictured above. It was fun making the pile in the afternoon sunshine. I didn’t call the ash trees (Fraxinus sp.) messy, nor did I run out to apply for a permit to cut them down. I simply enjoyed their fall colours.
Enjoy the fall!
