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I deal with 3 massive city-owned (and admittedly beautiful) chinquapin oaks and two privately owned red maples on a 1/3 acre lot. If the leaves don’t get removed then everything dies as a result of the acidity and thick leaf cover that also wont fully decay before the next autumn. There is no room for a compost pile of that size considering that the leaves couldnt make up more than half of it. I’m not a fan of grass lawns but the city and the HOA have to give the ‘okay’ before a lawn change can be made.
Same situation here. We need to remove at least part of the oak leaves. They take years to decompose on their own and they just smother ensuring else that wants to grow there. We try to leave a few piles until spring but if we didn’t manage the situation, the only plants thriving in the garden would be oaks.
Or realize that there is still tons of land that isn’t maintained and is actually a better habitat for bees anyway. Even in your own neighborhood ther is plenty of places that don’t get tended to. This is really just a diversion to redirect people from all the things the ag industry does that harm the bees on a scale us individuals, even collectively can’t hold a candle to. Remember when they tried to convince us that leaving the water running while we brush our teeth was a major usage of fresh water. But again, compared to the ag industry, all household water use is a drop in the bucket.
How do I know when the queens are out?
Early spring would be the easiest since no other “types” of bumblebee would be flying.
If you see bumblebees then you know they’re waking up.
Depending on where you live you may need to be more perceptive. In the southeast US what most people think are bumblebees are actually carpenter bees.
Oh, you’ll know.
Stupid sexy bumblebee butts.
I always mulch mine with my mower. Only bugs that might be in them is scorpions, grubs, ants, or the odd snake sometimes
Just remember that month suggestions online are for certain geographic areas. You might need to move them earlier or later. (The best rules I have seen is when nights are above 50 F in North America)
I’ve decided to leave the leaves on my yard and I swear my neighbors are mowing and leaf blowing twice as much just to spite me.
IDGAF. I’d rather have fireflies and bumblebees than human neighbors
Brings nutrients into your soil so you have a healthier lawn
That has not been my experience. The leaves wreck the ph of the soil and block light from letting grass grow.
Not much grass growing when it’s -20 out but you might have too many leaves so they don’t decompose fast enough during your winter
Yeah that’s definitely the issue here. There’s still a layer of wet leaves by the time the grass wants to start growing in the spring.
Let those leaves kill the grass and replace it with moss, clover, walkable thyme, native grasses, or any number of more interesting ground covers. I’m working towards a no-mow lawn. It’s fun finding creative ways to thwart a pesky city ordinance: “A minimum of fifty percent (50%) of all yard areas shall be comprised of turf grass”.
I’ll (electrically) blow leaves off of walkways, but the vast majority of them stay put. Fuck a fucking lawn.
Fuck a fucking lawn.
Is that kinda like a putting green but for…?
every lawn is a f-cking lawn if u f-ck lawns
I thought that’s what couches were for…?
I’m pretty sure if I didn’t do any yard work by May I’d have the city repossessing my home.
You could try a no-mow lawnternative: https://www.thespruce.com/lawn-alternatives-8657762
I don’t view this as a “pick up the leaves or not” false choice. I leave the leaves in some areas and mow over/pick them up in others. They’re literally free mulch and compost
If you leave them all in place they all turn into free mulch and compost anyway. And you avoid using the fossil fuels to power the mower you don’t need in the first place.
That’s probably the least efficient way to mulch that stuff, don’t just leave it out like that
And you avoid using the fossil fuels to power the mower you don’t need in the first place
Ah, should we all be using the push powered ones, then, cuz those are fucking terrible. Not having grass is nice for those who don’t live where it’s a legal requirement, but that’s out for many people, and you do have to cut it or you’ll get a different law visit instead
