and this says it best of all. Wise words! In my own woods, the many, many
oak leaves and assorted remaining leaves and pine needles have fallen almost
evenly. The winds that come thru and make little drifts aren't nearly as
imposing to the trees as these volcano's these people are making. First it
was mulch heaped up like a volcano (which our master gardening program
mailed out warnings to enlighten homeowners who didn't know better) and now
LEAVES?? Thanks for the informative and great response.
madgardener who is starting to look for those bags of leaves alongside the
roads now to replenish her two compost piles, up on the ridge, back in Fairy
Holler, overlooking English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7., Sunset
zone 36 where the leaves are almost off all the trees
now..................................

--
Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect." Chief Seattle
"Mike LaMana" fake@MikeatHeartwoodConsultingdotnet wrote in message
...
Deciduous trees have adapted to dealing with some accumulation of leaves,
and in fact befit form the reduced competition that derives from leaf fall
in forests.

The practice of suffocating the landscape with artificial concentrations
of
leaves has ramifications to which native trees are not necessarily
adapted:
Increased rot at the root collar; girdling of smaller trees by rodents
living in the warm, decaying piles; anoxia of the soil as the leaves turn
to
snotty slime ( in some cases);changes in soil pH not usual for woodland
settings; binding of nitrogen d=from the soil as decay of all the carbon
in
the leaves drains local resources, etc.

In short...usually not a good thing. Your neighbors should mimic nature
more. When was the last time you noticed leaves naturally heaping
themselves
into volcanoes about trees??

ML

--
Mike LaMana, MS, CTE
Heartwood Consulting Services, LLC
Toms River, NJ
www.HeartwoodConsulting.net




"Will Renkel" wrote in message
...

I have several neighbors who are piling their leaves around
the base of their trees. The piles are about 2 feet high
and about 4-5 feet out from the base of the tree.
Can someone enlighten me on the pros / cons of such a process?
I would think it could kill the grass.

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Will Renkel
Wheaton, Ill.
REGISTERD Linux User: 300583

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