Kelago
New member
Oak leaves do indeed make great mulch, but even better is composted oak leaves. The boman is right, oak leaf-mould is amongst the best fertilizer you can find...
How do you get rid of leaves.
- Thread starter EldoNixon
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You're more likely to need the snowblower before you need to do anything with oak leaves. My pin oaks lose their leaves in the spring; I'm assuming other oaks do, too.
But when they do fall, don't even think about bagging four acres worth--you'd work yourself to death. Just mulch 'em up with the mower.
But when they do fall, don't even think about bagging four acres worth--you'd work yourself to death. Just mulch 'em up with the mower.
beenthere
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There are many kinds of oaks, and some (such as pin oaks) normally do not lose their leaves until the buds push them off in the Spring. However, many of the oaks do lose their leaves in the fall.
NYTrainer
Silver Member
It is my understanding (doesn't mean I'm right) that most leaves (including maples) are fine mulched right into the lawn but oak leaves are better utilized to make compost and then that can be best used with azaleas, ivy, rhodies and most evergreen, acid loving plant materials.
GlueGuy
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is this option 7 or option 6a?
Let the wind blow them over to your neighbor's yard...
The GlueGuy
Let the wind blow them over to your neighbor's yard...
The GlueGuy
RichNJ
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Many years ago I used a trac-vac like system. It was homebrew but worked for 20 years. It had a large trailer with a large screen top and sides and an engine that mounted to the tractor. The engine sucked up the discharge from the MMM and blew it into the top of the trailer. I would dump the leaves into large piles in the woods. Check out http://www.trac-vac.com/ for examples.
After many years of trying other methods I found this one to be the easiest and least time consuming for 3 acres with many trees. The key was a large trailer. The trailer I had was 3-4 times the capacity of the trac-vac trailer.
After many years of trying other methods I found this one to be the easiest and least time consuming for 3 acres with many trees. The key was a large trailer. The trailer I had was 3-4 times the capacity of the trac-vac trailer.
wdn
Silver Member
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Eldo, with my now defunct Craftsman I just used a cheap-o tow behind 38" lawn sweeper I bought from home depot. For leaf pickup I just tow it behind with the mower deck turned off.
I does a great job picking up leaves as well as grass clippings. It is the cheap, low tech approach but it works. I paid about $200 something at the Depot.
I does a great job picking up leaves as well as grass clippings. It is the cheap, low tech approach but it works. I paid about $200 something at the Depot.
unaka
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Here's my cheaper, lower tech method for getting leaves. It involves a little sweat, but is not back-breaking work.
Each fall my wife and I rake the leaves into sizeable piles, (gloves are a must with rake handles by the way, unless you like blisters)
then we get a king sized blanket or sheet, lay it on the ground, rake the leaf pile onto it, pull the corners together, dump it in the pickup, smash it down by walking on it, repeat. We usually can fill up a full-sized pickup bed and a 7'x4' trailer in one hour or less. Then we back up to the garden and dump it right on top. If we need more leaves, we go down to the forest service road, and get the leaves from the side ditches using the same approach. It is amazing how quickly large quantities of leaves can be gathered in this fashion.
I have my power mowers, riding mowers and such, and I love using them, and I'm still excitedly looking for my first tractor, but sometimes I think we all use these things simply for the sake of using them. In many cases, simple labor is faster, more efficient, cheaper, and in my opinion, more satisfying.
Unaka
Each fall my wife and I rake the leaves into sizeable piles, (gloves are a must with rake handles by the way, unless you like blisters)
then we get a king sized blanket or sheet, lay it on the ground, rake the leaf pile onto it, pull the corners together, dump it in the pickup, smash it down by walking on it, repeat. We usually can fill up a full-sized pickup bed and a 7'x4' trailer in one hour or less. Then we back up to the garden and dump it right on top. If we need more leaves, we go down to the forest service road, and get the leaves from the side ditches using the same approach. It is amazing how quickly large quantities of leaves can be gathered in this fashion.
I have my power mowers, riding mowers and such, and I love using them, and I'm still excitedly looking for my first tractor, but sometimes I think we all use these things simply for the sake of using them. In many cases, simple labor is faster, more efficient, cheaper, and in my opinion, more satisfying.
Unaka
