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As it is time for another year of falling leafs, everywhere I go is dedicated to the removal of leafs. At the university, they have little enclosed golf carts with blowers on them, and have many people devoted to the cleanup of leafs.
So much time, money, and resources are devoted to leaf removal. What would be the impact of leaving the leafs where they fall, and just driving over them with a mower a few times before the snow?
around here it is around the clock leaf blowing from 7am-7pm
2 stroke blowers everywhere all day every day
It is really something.... to inhale.
I really do not appreciate doing this but i suppose our lawn will die if I don't. I run it over with the mulching mower like you said, a few times each fall. The mulch can go on the grass, on the garden or in a pile.
If I did not live in suburban NJ i would just have a big garden but since we are in the process of bailing out on NJ... i am trying to preserve most of the grass since that is what people like here.
Isn't it ridiculous? My husband and I were talking about this yesterday.
We especially don't understand leaf blowers at all. So much waste, and pollution, too, when you consider the number of people out there blowing wet leaves around. And the noise. It's terrible. I don't know why people don't use their rakes anymore.
Yesterday my husband and I sat and watched a leaf blower guy stand for three minutes in one spot trying to blow wet leaves off a tiny bit of sidewalk. He eventually gave up and walked to a different spot and did the same thing. So stupid.
There is a group in our community that is trying to establish something where people can grow food in their piles of leaves. They were saying that things like root veggies, potatoes, etc. even seed starts can be grown in leaves piled at least 3 feet deep.
Another problem with leaves in our town is that people blow them out onto the street near the curbs. This makes for dangerous situations when the leaves are blown around and into the bike lanes, or when cars are going too fast and swerve to go around a pile of leaves and so on. I don't know why the people in this town put their leaves in the street, but that's what they do and it doesn't seem very smart at all. All the other places we've lived people were supposed to bag up their leaves and the city would pick them up and compost them.
People do misuse leaf blowers but they definitely are a handy tool (I use an electric one). The mulcher in my mower is not great so sometimes I use the blower to get leaves up to the top of the property where it is easy to bag them. I have two giant oak trees as well as many, many smaller trees around me so I get a crapload of leaves in the fall.
As it is time for another year of falling leafs, everywhere I go is dedicated to the removal of leafs. At the university, they have little enclosed golf carts with blowers on them, and have many people devoted to the cleanup of leafs.
So much time, money, and resources are devoted to leaf removal. What would be the impact of leaving the leafs where they fall, and just driving over them with a mower a few times before the snow?
Actually this is what I do - using an old "real" Troy Bilt mulching mower. That's my main leaf recycler.
I also have and use one of their chipper-vacs to pick up leaves in the driveway, etc. where mulching them in place is not practical. It's a bigger machine, cost me more to buy, and it's "production rate" is much lower than the mower - but it will pick up and mulch the leaves, and I can use the mulch in the garden of course.
Probably a good Snapper or Honda mulching mower would work just as well as the old T-B, I don't know.
I'm not aware of a good chipper-vac on the market anymore.
Leaf litter will kill the grass and ornamental plants.
Leaf litter on a roadway or side walk is unsafe.
It is very slippery and when allowed to get into the storm drains it clogs up the system and the stream it dumps into.
Why don't people rake there 3ac of lawns, TIME.
I could spend 4 days raking up the leaves or I could do it in an hr pulling a sweeper behind my lawn tractor. I'd rather spend the time with friends &family or perusing some other activety.
Another problem with leaves in our town is that people blow them out onto the street near the curbs. This makes for dangerous situations when the leaves are blown around and into the bike lanes, or when cars are going too fast and swerve to go around a pile of leaves and so on. I don't know why the people in this town put their leaves in the street, but that's what they do and it doesn't seem very smart at all. All the other places we've lived people were supposed to bag up their leaves and the city would pick them up and compost them.
Leaves are a natural green product. They decompose into beneficial substance. Since they are a natural decomposable beneficial green product, there should be absolutely nothing wrong with blowing them into the street. Its just nature being nature. You can have trees on public ROWs dumping leaves in the same manner on the street so adding to the green decomposition should be the better way.
It does seem like a waste of energy to me. Where we had been living, we would rake about 1 acre or so and burn. No need to use gas for a leaf blower. Great exercise, too. The rest we left. Here in our new home, we are on an incline and all the leaves have blown...elsewhere, mostly out of sight. So I am not worried about them.
I ignore my leaves,10 big trees. I don't fertilize either. my lawn is just fine. My neighbors with all their noisy equipment crack me up.Some rake and bag their leaves which makes it easy for me to take and add to my garden if I can beat the trash truck
I keep hearing that leaves kill the grass and I keep hoping that it will prove to be true. I really don't like to mow.
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