Autumn Leaves

[Free For All]

OK, not a critical issue or anything but nonetheless something I've been pondering...

In the fall, do you remove leaves from your yard frequently or do you wait until they've all fallen?

We have neighbors who obsessively remove the leaves from their yard. This tends to make Mrs. FFA feel guilty and start to wonder if we should follow suit. Personally, I prefer to wait until the leaves have pretty much finished coming off the trees and then deal with them "en mass", which is to hire the "guys" to mulch the leaves as well as clean the eaves (and yes, they do use a blower to clean the eaves).

The aforementioned neighbors have dropped hints that we should remove a particular tree that seems to dump on their lawn (as well as ours)excessively in the fall. This is a beautiful tree that provides our deck with shade in the summer and has been around a long time. No f*cking way am I going to cut it down! My feeling is that if you are fortunate enough to live in a neighborhood with big beautiful trees you're going to get leaves in your yard from trees other than your own (like we even have a right to call any tree "our own"!!). If you can't tolerate "foreign" leaves in your yard, perhaps it's time to contemplate moving to a yardwork-free condo. We get dumped on by a neighbor's tree and it doesn't bother me a bit.

My feeling is that if you like to rake leaves, go for it. I happen to like the leaves on the ground which to me is a natural part of the fall season. I swear this is not about being lazy, it's just that we are busy enough that we seldom have time to deal with raking and I don't feel obligated to clear the yard constantly. I also think it is a natural process- ever walk in the woods in the fall? LOTS of leaves! I love the sounds and smells of leaves on the ground.

Oh yeah, I should also add that I think the solution of using the leaf-blowers to just push the leaves into the street (which many around here do, and usually do it early on Saturday AM) is VERY lame. I'm not necessarily against leaf-blowers per se, I just think they're as much part of the problem as part of the solution.

What say you?

BTW, we had a BEAUTIFUL fall this year. Outstanding colors!

[Dave James]

We have a rather massive oak tree in our front yard. If I waited until all the leaves had fallen before I started raking, I'm not sure what would happen, but I would fear for my life. One year, when the city didn't come around to do pick up I filled 38 extra large plastic lawn bags from just that tree alone.

I hate leaves.

Up over and out.

[Joe G]

I'm pretty lucky as far as leaf-work goes, since the only major source of leaves I have to deal with (an old maple tree) is at the east edge of my property. Usually we get some strong westerly winds, and that pretty much blows 90% of the leaves out of my yard right there.

There are several reasons to cut down a tree, but IMO, that fact that it drops leaves in the fall is not one of them.

We had some gorgeous colors here, and some great weather, at the end of October.

[patricia]

Free For All, Unless the tree's roots are interfering with your below the ground pipes, leave it alone.

There was a fork-trunked oak tree in my front yard from the time that I was a little kid. I used to sit in that tree and read in the summer. It was summer shade in the summertime, though it looked a little naked in the winter. One of the saddest things I remember is being away from home, going to school and coming home to discover that my father had had it cut down, about two feet from the fork in the trunk, due to pressure from the neighbours about the leaves. It looked so sad and MY tree's being pretty well gone broke my heart at the time. Even the house looked sad. Don't do it unless you have to.

[catesta]

One of the things that made me sick about Arizona was the neverending requests to get rid of trees because people were complaining of the mess.

Keep the tree.

As for the leaves, I have to say it's not very wise to let them sit on the lawn too long.

By doing so you can create a pest problem, increase the chances of the lawn becoming diseased, and will more than likely do damage to the lawn. You will notice this in the spring.

Leaves are great mulch for trees but are best removed from the lawn, unless you have a way to shred them up.

Edited November 15, 2005 by catesta

[porcy62]

We that are living in a concrete jungle do not have such problem.

Just kidding, I have plenty of leaves, we smoke them.

Just kidding again, sadly I haven't got any garden.

But I have the Colosseo ten minuts by walk.

[Jim R]

We have an abundance of trees (which I'm thankful for) in our neighborhood, and although the only trees in front of our house at present are two saplings that we planted withing the last few years, both of our adjacent neighbors have large trees that drop a lot of leaves into our yard and onto our roof and gutters. It has never once occured to me that this is something that I could or should complain about, and I've never heard about any of the people in this neighborhood complaining about a tree for this reason. Who do these people complain to when a heavy rain leaves puddles on their patios? Mind boggling.

Personally, I enjoy raking and sweeping leaves, and we have a weekly street pickup program (no plastic bags) for all types of yard waste. I can still enjoy the look and the smell of leaves on the ground for most of the fall season anyway, because as soon as I get them raked up and walk back into the house, I look out and see that the ground is covered with them again. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration.

[connoisseur series500]

I rake em up every weekend. I do this:

--for the exercise.

--to forestall any spousal mumblings.

--to make sure there's something on the street when the city sends their pickup squad. They hit my street twice over the course of the Fall.

My neighbor has a large willow tree which dumps branches, leaves, squirrel nests, TOCJ cds (just kidding!) and what not on my back lawn. I just pick them up and place the heavier limbs over on his side, which by mutual agreement, is the thing to do. He's a cool guy, and I never bitch about the tree to him. It provides welcome shade during the Summer.

(I'm going to have to email Mrs. FFA, and tell her to get that lazy hubby of hers...)

[Jazzmoose]

Our old house had a huge oak tree in the back yard, but no lawn, so we just let the leaves rot. The new house has only one very young tree, so no problem really. Guess I'm just lucky. But people who obsessively rake up the leaves over and over and over should get a hobby. Maybe jazz CDs or something...

[Jim R]

...people who obsessively rake up the leaves over and over and over should get a hobby.  Maybe jazz CDs or something...

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Well, I tried that already. I don't rake obsessively, though... in fact, I didn't want to admit it, but... we have a gardener So, I don't have to rake as often as I used to. Besides, every time I go out to rake, I cause a sudden change in the weather. Wind gusts of 45mph ensue within minutes. Same is true after I clear out the rain gutters.

[Free For All]

(I'm going to have to email Mrs. FFA, and tell her to get that lazy hubby of hers...)

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Paul, my dear friend, this is not the time to call me lazy! I'm bustin' my ass going to the gym 5 times a week as part of a personal commitment to health and weight loss, so being "lazy" is not part of my current repertoire. I just don't want to spend my weekends raking repeatedly.

EDIT: Also, don't misunderstand, the appeasement of Mrs. FFA is definitely a part of this scenario. And she (for once) is on my side on this issue. Believe me when I say she'd be the first one to call me on any maintenance infraction resulting from laziness.

My supervision is enacted with "vigilance with extreme prejudice".

As well it should be.

Edited November 16, 2005 by Free For All

[wesbed]

I live in Tucson. We ain't got no stinking fallen leaves.

[Free For All]

I live in Tucson. We ain't got no stinking fallen leaves. 

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True, the falling leaves (of red and gold) there would just serve as camouflage for the alleged rampant illegal border-crossing miscreants.

[Soul Stream]

There are two kinds of people in this world...

1. People that excessively trim and, eventually, cut down every fucking tree in their yard.

2. People that dig trees and let them grow and be trees.

The first kind of people always live next door to the second kind of people.

My next door neighbor asked if he could "trim" my magnolia tree as it was getting leaves in his pool. Next thing I know I have a 4 foot high stump. No fucking kidding. I 'bout shit my pants. a 20 foot high beautiful mature Magnolia in my FRONT yard cut down. Fuck all neighbors that want to trim your shit.

[connoisseur series500]

I live in Tucson. We ain't got no stinking fallen leaves. 

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Dust storms?

Desert critters?

[connoisseur series500]

My next door neighbor asked if he could "trim" my magnolia tree as it was getting leaves in his pool.  Next thing I know I have a 4 foot high stump.

Just had to laugh.

This just sounds so true!

[connoisseur series500]

(I'm going to have to email Mrs. FFA, and tell her to get that lazy hubby of hers...)

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Paul, my dear friend, this is not the time to call me lazy! I'm bustin' my ass going to the gym 5 times a week as part of a personal commitment to health and weight loss, so being "lazy" is not part of my current repertoire. I just don't want to spend my weekends raking repeatedly.

This is actually an excellent point.

I furiously dismiss all female calls-to-work when they happen to get in the way of my workout regimine down in my basement.

"Well how the heck do I have the energy to take out the trash, when I've been pumping iron down here??"

Women just don't have any logic...

Edited November 16, 2005 by connoisseur series500

[Tom 1960]

I try to wait until most of the leaves fall before venturing out and beginning what has become a favorite activity of mine next to shoveling snow (sarcasm). There seems to be less of them this year as a result of a developement being built behind my property. Unfortunately a large number of trees have been removed from the once wooded property. The city I live in allows us the option of either bagging the leaves in paper bags(no plastic!) for curbside removal once a week or simply dumping the leaves in a large pile next to the street for eventual removal. The downside is the neighbor's leaves across the street eventually find there way into my yard for me to further rake.

[Stereojack]

Raking leaves is the price we pay for living amongst trees. I love the big maple in front of my house, it provides shade and a little privacy, and I resign myself to spending a couple of hours every year picking up after it. I wait until they've all come down before I rake 'em up. It's a small price to pay, and it boggles my mind that there are people who would actually CUT DOWN a tree, and sacrifice the beauty it provides, just so their yards would look a little neater.

I grew up in a neighborhood that was a new development when my folks bought their house, so there were no trees when we first moved there. My dad planted a number of saplings around the house that took decades to mature. When I look at old pictures that were taken during those years, I'm struck by how barren the neighborhood looked back then!

I love driving down an old street with lots of trees!

Hate the leaf blowers! Pick 'em up and take 'em away!

[Soul Stream]

I LOVE trees. And always wish I had more in my yard (no matter where I've lived). When I moved north of Boston, I noticed the house we bought didn't have ANY trees on the lot, as opposed to all my neighbors who had 30 foot high pines surrounding their houses...."Oh, I cut down 30 huge pines last Spring and cleared the area. Ain't it great!" said the previous homeowner. Some folks just don't GET it,...life, music, leafy yards and TREES...those things make life worth being around for.

[danasgoodstuff]

I usually take 20+ bags off my lawn every fall, a little at a time, and consider the trees one of the best things about living here...

[Free For All]

Just for a little closure:

The "leaf guys" came today and cleaned up the yard and roof gutters. TOTALLY worth the $$. They also hauled away some other yard waste that I've been tripping over for awhile. God bless 'em.

[Jim Alfredson]

In total, I raked 21 bags of leaves from my front yard. If you folks could see the size of my front yard, you would say to yourself, "HOW IN THE NAME OF THE LORD COULD A YARD THAT SMALL HOLD 21 BAGS OF LEAVES?!?!" Well, when your neighbors illegally leaf-blow their leaves into the street up the road from you, guess where they end up?

Right now, a block south of me, there is a pile of leaves in the road that would stop a Hummer if it tried to go through them. And it is not legal in Lansing to blow your leaves into the street. People are such assholes. Lazy assholes at that.

Oh well... my yard looks good!

[wesbed]

I live in Tucson. We ain't got no stinking fallen leaves.

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Dust storms? Desert critters?

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Dust sorms? In Tucson, Arizona?

C'mon, man. Get serious.

[SEK]

Seems like all the leaves from the many maple trees in the neighborhood, including my own, end up in my yard. The leaf-bearing winds have prevailed against my household every year (except one) since 1979.