Rakeless lawn care
I just wanted to comment on the article in my latest newsletter about not raking the leaves in your yard and disposing of them.
I have been using this method for about 8 years now and am happy to see someone say it is a good idea.
I moved into my place about 9 years ago. The yards and flower beds had been left alone for about two years. I did not want to do all the work needed to bring them to life again all at once. I'm basically a lazy gardener and figured if leaving the fallen leaves and twigs was good enough for the forests of the world, it was good enough for my beds. To show how lazy I am, the wind piles my leaves in my beds for me. I'm in a location where the wind blows in the same direction as most of my beds.
The results have been very fine. My bulbs have multiplied to where I already need to separate them and the yearly weed cleaning is minimal. I have 10 beds around my yards and it doesn't take very long to spruce them up at all. My Fall and Spring clean up are very easy on me; lots of time to enjoy the fruits of nature's labors.
I hope someone else tries the methods stated in the article, they work. Even for a black thumb gardener.
Roses is red, violets is blue.
My plants still live because of my favorite glue.
---A-1 Black thumb gardener
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(post #11134, reply #1 of 22)
I have also been leaving the leaves in my beds over winter for years now. We don't have any big trees in our yard but they blow in from the neighbors yards and the ones that stick in the flower beds I just leave there till spring and I rarely lose anything to winterkill with this method. In the spring I remove the ones that are piled real deep so the daffodils don't get yellow leaves under there, but it never seems to bother the perennials. The ones around the base of the shrubs I figure are protecting the roots etc., and I always find a nice earthworm population under the leaves in the spring. I do loosely rake the ones on the lawn and put them in the vegetable gardens and then mow over them. In the spring the vegetable gardens are pre-mulched to some extent, I plant through the leaves and add more mulch as needed. I do however rake off most of the leftover leaves in the flowerbeds in the spring.
(post #11134, reply #2 of 22)
Hi,
I live in Nova Scotia. We have quite a bit of rain in the summer, and humidity. My efforts with rakeless lawn care were not successful. In fact, I never cut my grass without bagging. I used to mulch leaves into the lawn in the fall and leave them to over winter.
No longer. This spring I dethatched my lawn, and feel my lawn looked better than ever. I think it has to do with our climate, but I don't like to leave anything on my lawn that could contribute to thatch. We have quite a bit of cinch bug. This year, after being diligent about controlling thatch, I haven't seen one cinch bug.
I hurt my back this spring from so much raking, and wish I could find success with your method. I am glad it works for you !
Brian
Fall River, N.S.
(post #11134, reply #3 of 22)
One method isn't going to work everywhere for everyone. With leaving leaves, it not only depends on climate, but the number of trees and the kind of trees.
When we lived in San Antonio (low rainfall area), we had live oaks. I remember deciding that I'd rake the fallen leaves (which fall in the spring) under the shrubs for a mulch. Well, oak leaves are decay resistant anyway. And in drier areas, they take even longer to break down. But live oak leaves are also coated with some sort of 3M new age polyvinyl shellac. I might as well have mulched those shrubs with beer cans since they have about the same half life. So THAT didn't work so well.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11134, reply #4 of 22)
Mulch mowing those leaves into the grass is something I've been advocating for many years, often to great derision. It does work and it does work quite well except for those that are preprogramed to see that process fail. Why would adding organic matter to the soils of anyplace in the world not work?
The sign of a good gardener is brown knees, not a green thumb.
(post #11134, reply #5 of 22)
It's just a matter of perception. People have been programmed to see a leaf on the lawn or under the shrubbery as messy, the same as we are supposed to spray our showers after we get out of them so there will be no waterspots in there, because goodness sakes, someone might drop by and inspect our entire home for a speck of dust or a spotty shower stall. It is a matter of marketing by manufacturers trying to sell us stuff. If we don't buy into the gospel of uptight spotlessness we might not buy the leafblowers and the lawn vacuums, etc. A lady I know moved to a cabin in the woods, miles from anywhere, and they turned it into a year-round home by adding on rooms. When she started to plant some flower beds she asked me for advice on keeping the weeds out and the beds from drying out so fast. I suggested she mulch them with the leaves that were already there, and she looked at me with horror and said "But that looks so untidy". OMG, leaves in the flower beds, out in the middle of the woods, surrounded by trees, leaves, squirrels, deer, no lawns, and probably bears and coyotes! Heaven forbid.
(post #11134, reply #6 of 22)
I'm guessing it does make a difference on where you live and what kind of trees you have. As in all things, you have to work with what you have and what works for you.
I only know that the leaf mulch has worked wonderfully for me. I have maples around me, ash, cottonwoods, elderberry, plum, cherry and apple trees along with whatever else is growing here. They all wind up in my yard, in my grass and in my beds and I am happy with the results.
I have a nay-sayer in my Daugher-in-law....gotta keep everything neat so the yard looks presentable (?). I have more blooms than her and her gardens have been there longer. Hmmmmmmm, wonder why?
Thanx for the comments.
(post #11134, reply #7 of 22)
your most recent post suggests you might live in my neck of the woods, the PNW. You mention trees that are all locally common here. I note you're new to the forum and wish to say Welcome! If you get a minute click on your profile and enter where you live. It helps us all to get a sense of where people are, as you can tell from this thread. Thanks.
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
(post #11134, reply #8 of 22)
I totally agree. My son lives in a largish town and has fallen victim to the lawn wars. We live in a place where no one sees, and we have never been lawn sweepers or leaf rakers. We keep it nice, my dh does like to keep the lawn mowed, but we do not scalp it down. So my poor oldest has moved into a small subdivision with back yards that connect to everyone else. The poor guy is out there plucking out dandelions b/c his neighbors have such immaculate lawns. I bet he never imagined doing such things. I also let my leaves blow into the beds. Works well and keeps the daffs covered until it's safe to come out!
(post #11134, reply #10 of 22)
What a memory you've triggered. My grandmother lived in a very small town in the mid-west. When I visited she would drive me around for a tour, including the back alleys where she would point out who had dandelions in their lawn. Her 'companion' recited the history of the mailing list as we drove. She also noted the day care in town, with the side bar that she just couldn't understand how that could catch on, although when I had my 3rd kid she wrote me to express her concern that it not affect my career.
A complicated woman ... I miss her.
North Carolina - zone 7
North Carolina - zone 7
(post #11134, reply #13 of 22)
Yeah, and your kids are so much the worse for it! Btw, if you ever decide to clone any of them, I'll take one, please. Do you have a trade-in rate?
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11134, reply #9 of 22)
Oops, will do, thank you. My state may be part of the PNW but I live in the SE corner. lolllllll So I may not qualify.
(post #11134, reply #11 of 22)
I love your quote! I think you're safely out of the PNW. Once again, welcome; it's always nice to have new people join us.
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
(post #11134, reply #12 of 22)
Oops #2. I spend a large amount of my time in Alaska with family. Does that put me back in the PNW???? lollllll
Thank you for your welcome. It is always nice to meet new people.
(post #11134, reply #14 of 22)
The only soils I have seen yet where adding organic matter, shredded leaves, did not fairly quickly get incorporated into the soil was either in the desert or the beach sand close to the lake, or a soil that was consistently too wet. Those places have extremely low levels of soil bacteria to digest the leaves. I mulch mowed a fairly large volume of fairly wet leaves last thursday (a day with no rain for a change) and yesterday there were a lot of worm castings and the amount of shredded leaf litter was noticeably lower because of that activity. If you do mulch mow leaves into your turf and do not see fairly quickly these worm castings you need to look into why your soil is so unhealthy.
The sign of a good gardener is brown knees, not a green thumb.
(post #11134, reply #15 of 22)
Hi, I am new to the discussions, but have been learning from you all for a while. I have a ton of leaves and they just blew off the driveway and caught on my flower beds, that were just beautiful this fall I might add. Most everything is perennials and I wasn't sure if I should leave them or not, but you all answered my question. My yard is only about a year old, but I have been given lots of starts of interesting plants, plus I only live about 3 blocks from Lowe's, so I hit the sale rack there every chance I get. I would like to know if anyone digs up any annuals to try to over winter them. I have a couple of spikey grasses in two large pots that I would like to save. Is it possible?
Thanks,
Linda
(post #11134, reply #16 of 22)
Welcome to the "Fence". Some of the "annuals" are tender perennials or tropical perennials that are sold as annuals. I've got my plumbago dug and potted up for it's basement sojourn. I was given a portulaca that makes a mat about 3 feet in diameter with big rose like flowers about as big as silver dollars. I think I'll try to over winter that.
BJ
(post #11134, reply #17 of 22)
Keeping annual grasses can be done, but can be iffy. Actually, they're tropical grasses, not true annuals, though a few are. True annuals grow up, bloom, go to seed, then die and there's no holding them back. But those are a little uncommon. The key to keeping them over the winter is to keep them reasonably warm, keep them in a LOT of light, and not to overwater them. Some people are better at it than others, most of us don't bother since they can be persnickety and a little slow to recover in the next year.
Jeana
Never try to baptize a cat.
(post #11134, reply #18 of 22)
Hi, Linda. I am definitely no expert but I'n trying the same thing this year. I was given a decorative grass, large and spikey, and a bougainvillea this past summer as gifts and now have them resting in my basement. Giving them water every week and they are still alive. They've been there about a month. In fact, the bougainvillea has new leaves.
Roses is red, violets is blue.
My plants still live because of my favorite glue.
---A-1 Black thumb gardener
I don't actually try to (post #11134, reply #20 of 22)
I don't actually try to overwinter my annuals, but I do by accident. By leaving them in their containers, and hauling the pot inside, I have overwintered sweet potato vines, dichondra, and purple fountain grass (to name a few).
I also have been "composting (post #11134, reply #19 of 22)
I also have been "composting without composting" using my lawn and a garden tractor with a plate over the grass discharge chute. The plate forces everything that tractor chews up to get well ground and then drop out the bottom which spreads it much more evenly than the discharge chute ever did. Even garden trimmings get spread out on the back grass and then vanish after a couple passes with the tractor. My neighbors probably think I'm nuts since I ask them for the bags of grass cuttings and autumn leaves that they collect, then spread them in the areas where my back lawn needs some help and just mulch them right into the grass. I will admit I have a very large lawn (about 2 acres) so there is lots of room to add organic material. The lawn is much too large to water effectively in the summer, so adding organics to make the clay soil retain water helps the grass through long dry periods.
Bill - never thought of (post #11134, reply #21 of 22)
Bill - never thought of getting a minature pony or 2 / 3 sheep? They'll graze your 2 acres of grass for you & you could eventually eat the grazers !. At the moment whatl you are doing is wearing out your lawn tractor and you ain't even playing golf on it . And your soil will be so much better & you will save the gas. Sure your local John Deere dealer may get a bit pi$$ed ......
reply to a reply (post #11134, reply #22 of 22)
This is a reply to the person that asked if anyone ever tried to save annuals. One year I saved my "spike" from my geranium and used it again the next year. Nine years later I have a snall tree about 5 feet high, beautifully filled out. The bottom leaves fall off and the new growth keeps coming on the top. The stem is about 2 -3 inches around.