(in North-East USA): Must *every* leaf be blown from lawn?

[terry]

Yes here some people assiduously rake up the leaves (or pay someone to do so) put them in bags and either pile em up by the roadside to be picked up or drop them off at designated municipal locations.

And what does the municipality do with them?

They make mulch! Which is then used to enrich (fertilise) flower beds and lawns! Meanwhile some homeowners go out and buy chemical fertilisers (often imported) for their lawns.

A local and very well respected horticulturalist/broadcaster does not recommend the planting of grass at all. Saying it takes too much care does nothing for the soil and is prone to drought and pests such as the cinch bug! Rather, plant a low growing version of clover; which is bug resistant, survives winter frost well, and returns nitrogen to the soil. So all patching in our front and back is done with clover seed and it fills in very well mixing with whatever grass is there. It's been so wet this fall that mulching the leaves has been well nigh impossible.

[buffalobill]

your town often legislates this, and a phone call will to them will give you the who-where-when-why & how to do it. after that, meet with the neighbors and see who can be hired [all ages] and see who wants the leaves put where. it's really that easy. many towns want those leaves and old christmas trees these days on certain dates for pickup.

[Steve Barker DLT]

HUH!?!?

[aemeijers]

My mower IS a mulcher- no side discharge at all. It does have a rear bagger that has never been used. To mulch each layer as it falls would take mowing 2-3 times a week at the peak of the drop season. That ain't gonna happen, and I happened to be out of town the week most of them came down this year anyway.

Gotta do SOME blowing and raking anyway, for the places the mower can't fit, and around the shed and such. The layer I mulched this year took 2 weeks to sink in and break up. Like I said, if I mulched it all, the grass would suffocate, just like it does in the woods. (My backyard is pretty shady other than in winter.)

-- aem sends...

[George]

Same here with a similar depth of leaves.

[aemeijers]

I like clover. My rabbits like clover. My neighbors, mostly retired 'more power' types, not so much. They keep offering to treat my lawn to kill it, along with the dandelions. They didn't take it kindly when I told them that as long as it was green and held the dirt down, I didn't really care what it was. I'd love to go to a 'no upkeep' yard, but realistically, in a subdivision, even without an HOA, it ain't gonna happen. All it take is one neighbor with a day-glo green lawn calling the township about 'noxious weeds', and you have a feud going on. (See my message upthread about the neighbor who told me I should take trees out to cut down on raking.)

They Just Don't Get It.

-- aem sends...

[Steve Barker DLT]

you're a puss.

s

[tmurf.1]

Tell them to mind their own business.

[Norminn]

clipped

My introduction to lawn care was when my husband was the "building manager" for our condo. We rehabbed a very badly neglected lawn - loads of weeds, large dead areas due to broken down irrig. system, and very lazy unit owners. It doesn't take a huge effort to get rid of lots of weeds....in our case, one application of broadleaf weed killer got most of them. Crabgrass is another story. With proper mowing and watering, the lawn can almost take care of itself. Mow higher during hot, dry weather, etc. I have lots better things to do than watch the grass grow, so we researched products and gen'l. care and spent as little money as possible. On the water, so we didn't want chemicals washing into the channel. I like clover, too......mebbe overtreating those kinds of plants has something to do with bees disappearing - once had a backyard loaded with them.