[SOLVED] Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds

Does anybody have a strategy for removing leaves from a mulch bed without losing tons of mulch. I have a lot of trees on my property and on the surroundingplots of land. I have had a lot of leaf removal to do this season and I will have an equal amount of mulch replacement to do. I have been using my blower to push the leaves to a pile and try to stay away from using a rake.

I do not use the vacuum attachment for my blower as it jams often and and it was very time consuming. However, just on the last leaf cleaning day of the season, it broke so I have purchased a Toro Ultra Blower.

Is the only way to remove leaves from a mulch bed without losing mulch to use the vacuum attachment?

Reply to
RockyCJC
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Why? It requires both muscle and skill, but a rake is the single best tool to move leaf mulch a yard at a time. (For greater distances, use a board in either hand to lift leaves onto a barrow. Three loads lifted fill most wheelbarrows. This requires muscle too.)

Reply to
Don Phillipson

What kind of mulch? If it is bark, it is worthless. Shredded cypress works very well and stays in place pretty well - well enough that a leaf blower can be used if the mulch is damp and compacted.

Reply to
Norminn

Confused. Aren't leaves one of the components of much?

Are you talking about the compost heap/container where you make the mulch, or about an area where you have spread finished mulch?

Reply to
aspasia

Reply to
RockyCJC

Rocky,

Your mulch beds are organic material that is permeable to water but blocks sunlight and thus inhibits the growth of weeds. Leaves do these things. So leave the leaves on the mulch beds. Many lawn mowers come with "mulchers" to chop leaves up into mulch.

Dave M.

Reply to
David Martel

There is no better tool for leaves than a rake and a big tarp. Bigger the better - I use a 20x40 foot tarp that'll hold a minivan sized pile of leaves. The tarp gets tied with rope to the back of my riding mower because I'm getting lazy. Drag that up the hill, find an open spot in the woods, and drag the tarp over itself to dump. Easy and doesn't annoy the neighborbood with noise.

The only place a leaf blower has been useful is ivy. The rake is hard on the leaves.

-rev

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
The Reverend Natural Light

You could try asking the fine folks in rec.gardens (if you haven't already). The group does not have nearly as much traffic as here, but they have lots of experience. Personally, I use a rake. But, my beds are pretty small.

-Felder

Reply to
felderbush001

With regard to leaving the leaves on the mulch beds - I thought of this. However, leaves decompose and cause fungus as well. This can bring soil diseases that can kill the surrounding plants. I would prefer to have a depleted mulch bed than to have dead plants.

As for the tarp idea, I do this in my backyard as it is the most level portion of my yard and I have to drag all the leaf bags to the front and down the hill. However, it does not solve the problem of saving as much mulch as possible in the process of extracting the leaves.

Reply to
RockyCJC

Leaves are not mulch. Depending on they type of tree, leaves can be composted for use in gardens next year as fertilizer. Also, if leaves are shredded onto lawns they are great feed for the worms and such living below the grass to decompose and it doesn't take too much time for that (best bet).

Mulch is usually shredded bits of tree bark, or shredded twigs, and made up of different types of trees. Mulch is used decoratively to landscape lawns, usually around trees, plants, light posts, shrubs, and even patios (like at my rental property). So Mulch is usually made of harder things than leaves, which are soft. Mulch is made of wood chips, tree bark, and whatnot that has better staying power and is heavier than grass clippings, leaves, or any compostable item. Mulch usually isn't blown away unless winds are very strong. Also a tarp is lined over soil to keep the mulch in place and keep weeds from sprouting up in the mulch. Tarp is placed under the mulch and is made of:

Poly yard tarps are made of heavy duty industrial polyethylene. Poly yard tarp is light weight and versatile. Poly yard tarp fabric has built-in UV protection for both sides for maximum weatherproofing. Designed for maximum strength and durability. (I don't advise using this kind of tarp because polyethylene and any polyvinyl treated plastics contain a heavy amount of chemicals that cause cancer in humans[like the shower curtains, plastic raincoats, plastic polyvinyl boots, and anything with polyvinyl and polyethylene in it). (per the blogger here I know that polyethylene and polyvinyl are some of the worst cancer-causing chemicals in products to humans. I cannot speak about what it does to organisms in the ground under the mulch, nor less the birds and other animals who crawl over them or pause to drink by them every day).

Heavy duty vinyl yard tarps are made of heavy duty 10 oz vinyl coated polyester, which are strong and tear resistant. Heavy duty yard tarps are designed for longer service life and outstanding performance.

Reply to
Terri Sufka

I use a snow shovel. Much easier than a board.

Reply to
TimR

replying to RockyCJC, lynn wrote: I too have wasted a lot of good mulch by raking and blowing leaves off the mulch and even then it's impossible to get all the leaves out of the mulch. Last year I covered the entire area of mulch with a fine netting that I found in the garden section of Home Depot. I have no idea what the netting was supposed to be used for but it worked for me. It took a while to get the netting around all the bushes but it wasn't all that difficult. I just had to layer some of it . The netting came in rolls and included plastic stakes that I used around the edges and a few throughout the area to keep the netting in place. It worked perfectly for the 3 months I kept it on until all the leaves were done falling and it was super easy to take off and throw away. The best part was that I could use my leaf blower on high speed to blow all the leaves away and out of the bushes as well without losing a bit of mulch. Sorry I don't know the name of the product but I think anything of this nature would work and it was very, very cheap. ($2 to $3 per roll) I really wish someone would patent a product specifically for this use.

Reply to
lynn

replying to lynn, Lori wrote: Genius Thank you Lynn!

Reply to
Lori

replying to RockyCJC, mary p zaft wrote: I remember watching a landscape specialist at our school blow a huge amount of leaves into one big pile from our mulch landscape, She left the place and no leaves with mulch in place. She did a certain twirl and lift motion with the blower and it worked.

Reply to
mary p zaft

replying to RockyCJC, MICHAEL Avery wrote: No matter what you use whether it be a rake or a blower the vacuum will definitely clog but all of it takes technique with the rake you have to skim the top and the last little bit you have to rake and rake and rake until just the leaves are on top and pick them out by hand or with the leaf blower the technique is to twirl and lift at the right angle and it can leave the bark alone and remove just leaves you might have a little bit mixed but I think it's far better than using a rake if you use the vacuum attachment on your blower you will more than likely pick up some bark at some point that's clogging or even breaking your blower

Reply to
MICHAEL Avery

replying to Lori, Nicholette201 wrote: Awesome!! I was thinking of doing the very same thing. My husband thought I was crazy- but now I have proof it works!! Thanks for sharing.

Reply to
Nicholette201

replying to RockyCJC, Dan wrote: What is it

Reply to
Dan

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