How Many Mow Their Leaves

[Iplayfarmer]

I trust everyone is waiting for the leaves to fall off of the trees first before attempting to mow them.

This year, yes.

But, I think If I can mount my blades upside down I can get just enough lift...

 

[MrWoodChips]

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.

Do stir it up too. I don't know if this allows oxygen into the pile, or if by mixing it up it helps to intermingle the various components to better help the bugs to feed. I do know that I did not add much water the first year I composted, and it did not turn out as well. So water is very important.

A very good way to tell if you have anything happening is if the pile is warm inside. Heat generated means it is "cooking" away, even in midwinter.

John

 

[MrWoodChips]

This year, yes.

But, I think If I can mount my blades upside down I can get just enough lift...

He, he he. A hovertract.

 

[LBrown59]

I trust everyone is waiting for the leaves to fall off of the trees first before attempting to mow them.

Now : Who would have thought of that!
It's a good thing you brought it up.

 

[4720 OWNER]

When i got goats i found a wonderful way to turn piles of leaves into little round pellets. They love them like a kid on holloween chocolate fix, ESP the maple leaves. We use the leaf sweep to pile them up then fill the loader, put the leaves in the barn and squish the pile down with each load. About the same cost as mowing, vaccing, composting, and get to play with goats!!

Also if you search a little you will find some breeds of goats will actually climb in trees, there are some great shots of them, just do not have the links.

 

[MrWoodChips]

Also if you search a little you will find some breeds of goats will actually climb in trees, there are some great shots of them, just do not have the links.

Incredible Tree-Climbing Goats | WebEcoist

 

[Tig]

I mow my leaves. If I cut the grass real low the wind from the bay will even blow them off my property into the river. I try to keep up so the much stays i the yard.

 

[oliver28472]

I put all my eggshells, coffee grounds (with filter) and vegetable scraps in my pile. It's good to layer the pile. Leaves are one layer, everything else is the other layer. I even sprinkle some ammonium nitrate on mine. Blood meal is good for that too. Have been lazy this year and haven't turned it yet. I hammered down some t-posts and put a hardware cloth around them to make a fence or bin. Have mounded the pile over the top five or six times this year and now it is down about a foot below the top. Will probaby take off the top layer, lay that to the side and put the rest on the garden when I find the time. Will put the top back in the new pile and start all over. I have mine under some trees which now I've heard it should be in the sun. Keeping it moist and turning it now and then will make compost a lot faster but I have not needed it yet.

 

[RalphVa]

That business about leaves being acidic is a myth. Initially, they are, but they become neutral as they degrade further. Jefferson used leave mulch on his veggie garden at Monticello.

I've always used a mulching mower on any of my leaves in NJ, Baton Rouge and now here in Virginia. In NJ, I maintained 4 to 5 acres of church lawn that had A LOT of oak trees. I'd mulch up the leaves with a ZTR Scag, running with discharge directed inward until the engine could barely keep up. Then I'd reverse direction a couple turns before going back to discharging inward to unmown grass. NEVER raked leaves there nor on my own property. That's written in Titus 4:12: "Thou shalt not rake leaves. They were made as nature's fertilizer."

I "steal" about 100 bags of leaves that silly people put out at the curb. Build a big compost pile with my MacKissic shredder/chipper on my small 18.5 hp tractor. Use it as mulch on my veggies and most everywhere else.

Ralph

 

[exNCite]

I run the leaves through the mower first, and then sweep them up. Running them through the mower reduces the volume a LOT! I used to compost them for the garden, but don't garden anymore.

Me too. Tons of leaves, but cutting then sweeping easiest to manage and what the sweeper doesn't pick up won't hurt the yard. Keep in mind though, that depending on the trees you have, the yard should be limed because some leaves (oak if I recall) raise the acidic content in the yard.