Written By Nate. On Nov 10. In Composting, Daily Life, Environment, Gardening, Gas & Oil
This weekend I watched oodles of neighbors wrestling with the falling leaves. Whole lawns have disappeared beneath carpets of red, orange and gold leaves as they tumble from the trees lining our streets. I think it’s beautiful and shows the changing seasons but it seems most think of it as an annoyance. This weekend neighbors up and down the block dug out their noisy leaf blowers and moved all the leaves either into the street or onto the lawn for mowing. Not only is it noisy but it’s also kicking a lot of emissions into the air and for what? This morning most of the lawns have disappeared again.
I’m taking the wait until the tree is bare approach to leaf raking. I’ve gone out a couple of times in the last month and created a couple of big piles to compost. I like that idea instead of piling them into lawn and garden trash bags to be hauled off to the dump. Then I can use the compost around the garden beds and in the lawn to add beneficial nutrients into the soil. If you don’t have the room to compost in your own yard, you might want to think about giving the material to a local yard waste recycler. Usually your local dump or transfer station will know of someone in the area who can help.
Composting isn’t that difficult though. Even if you’ve got a little corner of your property you can dedicate the process, you can do a lot. I’ve simply created a large pile of dead leaves in one corner of my yard by the garage. It originally was well over 4 feet tall but as they have started breaking down, the pile has shrunk down to about 2 feet tall and half as wide. Once a week, I head out with my pitchfork and turn the inside of the pile outward. That mixes the dry, whole leaves into the middle where they can begin to break down. I also keep the pile moist, like a rung out sponge. So, if it hasn’t rained during the week spray your pile down with the hose. Over a few weeks you’ll begin to notice the leaves breaking down and turning into black gold, compost!
For tomorrow: How you can continue your fall cleanup while reducing the environmental impact
HA! I have a reel mower like that (plus we later got a rechargeable electric mower). My reasoning in getting it was because I didn’t want to rely on gas and I wanted to have no trouble starting it myself if hubby weren’t home. I’m a relatively small woman. My neighbors made fun of us for using it but I just couldn’t see using a gas one – our yard is not terribly big. Since I had surgery, the electric mower has made more sense though. Fortunately, we only need it seasonally and although my motives weren’t purely “green” I do appreciate sites like yours and helping in any little way I can. Keep up the great posts.
Lawn mowers are major pollutants and I do not mind the EPA setting new guidelines because we don’t want to end up like China. I love the Brill because it is electric and good for small to medium sized yards, which many homes are nowadays unless you own a big lot. A good site for more reviews on these types of mowers is http://www.lawnmowersworld.com
You seem to have neighbors that play follow my leader – so good for you for bucking the trend! It does seem a little pointless clearing leaves for the problem to be as bad only a few days later – and a carpet of leaves is very attractive indeed. Pointless frequent use of powered tools can is also unecessarily annoying for quieter folk.
However in a few weeks the situation can be quite different. It makes a lot of sense to clear leaves before winter finally sets in – and making compost withe them is certainly a good idea. Getting rid of leaves is good for pest control also – it will reduce the growth of funghi.
Using a powered leaf blower can be a very efficient way of tidying the yard and collecting leaves for composting – but all things in moderation!
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