How Many Mow Their Leaves

oliver28472 · Nov 3, 2008

I pay the guy who vacuums the church next door to do mine. Was $45.00 last year. I keep the leaves for my compost pile.

Gittyup · Nov 3, 2008

I use to just mulch them up and leave them on the ground. This is ok, but you have to add a lot of lime to offset the acid. But, last year I found a tow behind vacuum and now I vacuum them up and put them on the compost pile. Yard looks much better doing it this way.

zzvyb6 · Nov 3, 2008

I second the tow behind vacuum. I highly modified this Woods sucker from 8" hose to 12", left hand to right hand inlet, Honda motor, 48" deck to 72" deck, trailer ball from castering pivot wheels and a better dump door. You really need the 12" hose for a 72" deck.

I can use this with my JD F535, 1070 midmower and this F935 front mower (pictured). The impeller turns leaves, grass, stones, twigs, bricks, dog poop and acorns into mulch or slow burning air freshener. Makes nice "loaves" of leaf piles.

Sackett2 · Nov 4, 2008

When I lived in North Dakota, the rental I lived in had about 9 trees, one HUGE cottonwood. I used my craftsman mower and grass catcher-3 pickup loads per mowing to the recycling bins. Never had a fire issue with my tractor, but could see the potential. Now here in Oregon, the leaves stick to the ground with water... I'll leave them there till spring....

Iplayfarmer · Nov 4, 2008

I mow. bag, and spread on the garden spot.

I still haven't quite figured out the compost thing. I think I'm too dry. All I get when I make a compost pile is a pile of leaves and grass clippings that's 4 months old. No "Black Gold"

AKfish · Nov 5, 2008

Real art to get that "Black Gold"! Too dry, too hot, need to turn the pile, etc. Local extension office or the University extension has those short, to-the-point pamplets.

Can't put too many leaves (or grass clippings, either) in my horse manure pile. Guess it'll "spoil" the mix...

AKfish

MrWoodChips · Nov 5, 2008

Iplayfarmer said:
I mow. bag, and spread on the garden spot.

I still haven't quite figured out the compost thing. I think I'm too dry. All I get when I make a compost pile is a pile of leaves and grass clippings that's 4 months old. No "Black Gold"

My formula starts with mulched leaves. Add some free shredded woodchips available locally. Add some soaking wet lakeweed. Add some grass clippings. If it has been really dry I'll sometimes add water, in the form of two 5 gallon buckets dumped on top. Additional sources of nitrogen are handy and will speed up the result. Food scraps, like melon rinds, vegetable peelings, etc., are all good. I avoid corn cobs, as they will probably take too long to break down, and I look for black gold within one year, then restarting the cycle.

Lots of water is a good idea. For example, when I get the woodchips, I do so using 5 gallon buckets. At home, I fill the buckets with the chips with water, and let them soak over night to absorb the water. Then I dump it all on top of the pile. I've also heard of people doing this with shredded paper, though I've never tried it.

Turn it at least a few times. When I go by with the bucket on my tractor, and I think it is due, I'll flip the pile over. This only takes a minute to do. I did it 3 or 4 times this last year.

Things to avoid are fatty food waste. So avoid fat trimmings from meat. I admit, I once dumped an entire dead carp in the middle of the pile. It was gone in plenty of time. (Surprise! Something likes carp?) I also once tried a pile of our dog's hair after a trimming once, but it did not seem to decompose at all.

Really, there are only a few important things to do. Make sure you have enough nitrogen containing items compared to the carbon you put in the pile. Dead leaves, woodchips, shredded paper, etc., are all essentially pure carbon, with no nitrogen content. You need to add enough nitrogen to that mix to get it to work, otherwise the bugs need to find the necessary nitrogen from the air. That will take more time. Green vegetative matter is a good way to add nitrogen. Some people have been known to add urine. Turn the pile over a few times. And, make sure you have enough water.

John

shvl73 · Nov 5, 2008

Iplayfarmer said:
I still haven't quite figured out the compost thing. I think I'm too dry. All I get when I make a compost pile is a pile of leaves and grass clippings that's 4 months old. No "Black Gold"

I flip my pile after every couple of weeks or when wet after rain. Our pile is manure, mixed with soiled hay and food scraps. I may find a way to pick up my leaves and add them rather than a repeat of trying to burn down the place.

Iplayfarmer · Nov 5, 2008

MrWoodChips said:
My formula starts with mulched leaves. Add some free shredded woodchips available locally. Add some soaking wet lakeweed. Add some grass clippings. If it has been really dry I'll sometimes add water, in the form of two 5 gallon buckets dumped on top. Additional sources of nitrogen are handy and will speed up the result. Food scraps, like melon rinds, vegetable peelings, etc., are all good. I avoid corn cobs, as they will probably take too long to break down, and I look for black gold within one year, then restarting the cycle.

Lots of water is a good idea. For example, when I get the woodchips, I do so using 5 gallon buckets. At home, I fill the buckets with the chips with water, and let them soak over night to absorb the water. Then I dump it all on top of the pile. I've also heard of people doing this with shredded paper, though I've never tried it.

Turn it at least a few times. When I go by with the bucket on my tractor, and I think it is due, I'll flip the pile over. This only takes a minute to do. I did it 3 or 4 times this last year.

Things to avoid are fatty food waste. So avoid fat trimmings from meat. I admit, I once dumped an entire dead carp in the middle of the pile. It was gone in plenty of time. (Surprise! Something likes carp?) I also once tried a pile of our dog's hair after a trimming once, but it did not seem to decompose at all.

Really, there are only a few important things to do. Make sure you have enough nitrogen containing items compared to the carbon you put in the pile. Dead leaves, woodchips, shredded paper, etc., are all essentially pure carbon, with no nitrogen content. You need to add enough nitrogen to that mix to get it to work, otherwise the bugs need to find the necessary nitrogen from the air. That will take more time. Green vegetative matter is a good way to add nitrogen. Some people have been known to add urine. Turn the pile over a few times. And, make sure you have enough water.

John

It sounds like the only thing I'm not doing is adding water.

I've got a pile of leaves that my kids raked up a week or so ago, and it's pretty wet now since it's been raining for 3 days. Maybe I should add it to my pile of dry manure and dry grass clippings and see if I can't get something going.