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?

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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

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.