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#1
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What to do with all the leaves?
In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it
I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? |
#2
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What to do with all the leaves?
Gus Overton wrote:
In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? Compost them. Any large container will do, or make a heap, perhaps cover initially if they tend to blow around. Some dampness will speed the process. -- David - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A better world requires a daily struggle against those who would mislead us. |
#3
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What to do with all the leaves?
Gus Overton wrote:
In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? On a windy morning I mowed my leaves with mulching blades and they blew away. |
#4
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What to do with all the leaves?
Brooklyn1 writes:
Gus Overton wrote: In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? On a windy morning I mowed my leaves with mulching blades and they blew away. Yeah we saw the pictures of your place. Let some trees grow and come back in 30 years. -- Dan Espen |
#5
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What to do with all the leaves?
Gus Overton writes:
In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? Nope, way too much work. My leaf pile is as big as a van. It's behind some bushes. Takes one to 2 years to turn back into dirt. I screen about half the pile each year. -- Dan Espen |
#6
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What to do with all the leaves?
On 11/26/2014 5:28 PM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Gus Overton wrote: In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? Compost them. Any large container will do, or make a heap, perhaps cover initially if they tend to blow around. Some dampness will speed the process. I mulch the beds that do not have ground cover and even some that have frost-sensitive ground cover. I add them to my compost pile, which is actually leafmold because there is little other than leaves. I pile them on my patio and on the paths through my garden. And I fill the garden waste bin for the county's composting program. Most of the leaves are from my ash tree, which is the last to drop its leaves and the first to get new leaves. By the time I have cleared the last pile from the patio and paths, the tree is already fully in leaf. -- David E. Ross Climate: California Mediterranean, see http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
#7
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What to do with all the leaves?
burying them will help them break down faster if
you have worms and moisture. there is very little reason to burn, but for some reason people think it is a good thing to do. i use leaves to smother areas i hope to replant later with something else. right now i have a start on a replacement strawberry patch that should be ready in a year or two. i don't think i'll be able to get any more leaves down this season, but who knows -- the weather may change and we get some warm days and i can end up with more leaves to put down. songbird |
#8
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What to do with all the leaves?
"Love Is the Drug". (Ferry said the song came to him while kicking the leaves during a walk through Hyde Park.)
What is with the eyepatch, and were many stewardesses backup singers in late 70s? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n3OepDn5GU |
#9
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What to do with all the leaves?
On 11/26/2014 11:17 PM, songbird wrote:
burying them will help them break down faster if you have worms and moisture. there is very little reason to burn, but for some reason people think it is a good thing to do. i use leaves to smother areas i hope to replant later with something else. right now i have a start on a replacement strawberry patch that should be ready in a year or two. i don't think i'll be able to get any more leaves down this season, but who knows -- the weather may change and we get some warm days and i can end up with more leaves to put down. songbird Hi Songbird, I have a lot of grass to kill in my garden over the winter. How big a pile of leaves would I need to use? Do I water them down to keep them from blowing away? Will it kill the seeds too? -T |
#10
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What to do with all the leaves?
On Wed, 26 Nov 2014 22:42:00 -0500, Dan Espen
wrote: Gus Overton writes: In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? Nope, way too much work. My leaf pile is as big as a van. It's behind some bushes. Takes one to 2 years to turn back into dirt. Not if you set fire to the pile. I screen about half the pile each year. |
#11
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What to do with all the leaves?
Todd wrote:
.... I have a lot of grass to kill in my garden over the winter. How big a pile of leaves would I need to use? Do I water them down to keep them from blowing away? Will it kill the seeds too? different species of grasses have different abilities and reserves for surviving being smothered. generally, those with larger roots and stolons will be tougher to smother and may take several years. a few months through a winter when the plant may be somewhat dormant anyways is unlikely to accomplish much for the tougher sorts. if you have fairly thin rooted grasses and smaller plants then you may be able to smother them, but i think it does take longer than a few months. depends upon moisture, temps, worms, pill bugs, fungi, etc. it will not "kill" grass seeds, but it may prevent them from sprouting long enough that they can rot and/or be eaten by other critters. i use overlapping chunks of cardboard or other compostable papers and then pile the leaves on top. wetting them down does keep them more in place, but here i started with fairly wet leaves anyways and the rains came. i don't care if they move around anyways. about a foot thick. getting rid of the grasses can be either raked or dug up in chunks. for an established garden i'll dig a fairly deep hole and put the chunks of grasses and roots down in the bottom (turning them root side up). if there are a lot of seeds on the surface i'll scrape them into the hole too and then bury that all deeply enough that it is hard for anything to regrow or sprout. absolutely no need for weed killers or chemicals to prevent seeds from sprouting. mulch over the area will help prevent any stray seeds from having an easy time growing, and those that do sprout and grow will often be easier to remove because they are growing in the mulch and not in the dirt underneath if you can catch them early enough. do not use leaves sucked up by lawnmowers as they often include weed seeds too. if you do have this sort of material available you can hot compost it to help reduce the seed count, but some species are able to even survive that too... i don't hot compost anything here at the moment. the worm bins get things i harvest after i dry them out completely and they don't regrow from that treatment ever. songbird |
#12
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What to do with all the leaves?
Todd wrote:
I have a 'lot' of grass to kill in my garden over the winter. How big a pile of leaves would I need to use? A lot. |
#13
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What to do with all the leaves?
On 11/28/2014 05:28 PM, songbird wrote:
Todd wrote: ... I have a lot of grass to kill in my garden over the winter. How big a pile of leaves would I need to use? Do I water them down to keep them from blowing away? Will it kill the seeds too? different species of grasses have different abilities and reserves for surviving being smothered. generally, those with larger roots and stolons will be tougher to smother and may take several years. a few months through a winter when the plant may be somewhat dormant anyways is unlikely to accomplish much for the tougher sorts. if you have fairly thin rooted grasses and smaller plants then you may be able to smother them, but i think it does take longer than a few months. depends upon moisture, temps, worms, pill bugs, fungi, etc. it will not "kill" grass seeds, but it may prevent them from sprouting long enough that they can rot and/or be eaten by other critters. i use overlapping chunks of cardboard or other compostable papers and then pile the leaves on top. wetting them down does keep them more in place, but here i started with fairly wet leaves anyways and the rains came. i don't care if they move around anyways. about a foot thick. getting rid of the grasses can be either raked or dug up in chunks. for an established garden i'll dig a fairly deep hole and put the chunks of grasses and roots down in the bottom (turning them root side up). if there are a lot of seeds on the surface i'll scrape them into the hole too and then bury that all deeply enough that it is hard for anything to regrow or sprout. absolutely no need for weed killers or chemicals to prevent seeds from sprouting. mulch over the area will help prevent any stray seeds from having an easy time growing, and those that do sprout and grow will often be easier to remove because they are growing in the mulch and not in the dirt underneath if you can catch them early enough. do not use leaves sucked up by lawnmowers as they often include weed seeds too. if you do have this sort of material available you can hot compost it to help reduce the seed count, but some species are able to even survive that too... i don't hot compost anything here at the moment. the worm bins get things i harvest after i dry them out completely and they don't regrow from that treatment ever. songbird Thank you! |
#14
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What to do with all the leaves?
Peter Jason writes:
On Wed, 26 Nov 2014 22:42:00 -0500, Dan Espen wrote: Gus Overton writes: In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? Nope, way too much work. My leaf pile is as big as a van. It's behind some bushes. Takes one to 2 years to turn back into dirt. Not if you set fire to the pile. Right, if I set fire to the leaves, I loose my fence and pay a pretty big fine. Such is life in the suburbs. -- Dan Espen |
#15
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What to do with all the leaves?
Peter Jason wrote:
On Wed, 26 Nov 2014 22:42:00 -0500, Dan Espen wrote: Gus Overton writes: In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And the city created a law banning it I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store down the street has some. There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I don't think they will decompose. I should bury them? Nope, way too much work. My leaf pile is as big as a van. It's behind some bushes. Takes one to 2 years to turn back into dirt. Not if you set fire to the pile. Why waste a resource and pollute the air? -- David - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A better world requires a daily struggle against those who would mislead us. |
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