What would happen to my lawn if I just didn't rake the leaves? [more inside]
posted by Flunkie on Oct 28, 2009 - 25 answers

Why do we eat leaves from plants that grow on the ground, but not from trees? [more inside]
posted by escabeche on Aug 17, 2009 - 26 answers

IdentifyPlantFilter: A new plant has sprung up in my Mother's rock garden this year. She loves it, but had no idea what it is! Can you help us identify it? [more inside]
posted by pghjezebel on Aug 10, 2009 - 6 answers

Digital graphics artists, hi! I have a painting in mind--a foliate head (aka 'green man') or rather several of them, embedded in foliage. I expect the final form will be in acrylic on masonite because I want it to be bigger than any monitor or color printer I'm ever likely to have. But I want to do most of the detail prep digitally, and it will involve 3D work because I plan to stare at and think about every single one of X hundreds of leaves, sized and rotated to fit in with its neighbors. So I'm fishing for recommendations about which of the free 3D packages I should plan on using. I know the learning curve will be pretty steep and I want to pick one program and stick to it. Free candidates I know of are SketchUp, Blender, and Bryce 5, but I'll consider anything. Does any one of these, or any other one you've used, stand out from the rest for doing complex-mesh organic forms like, um, leaves? If any of them make it easy (or anyway less hard) to texture flat(ish) objects on both surfaces, that's a big plus. Thanks very much! Oh, Windows or Linux. Got no Mac.
posted by jfuller on Jul 8, 2009 - 10 answers

What is the easiest way to get leaves off of my lawn? (Short of paying someone to do it). Leaf blowers? Ergonomic rakes? Lawn mowers?
posted by profwhat on Oct 13, 2008 - 11 answers

Will mulching our leaves with our mower help or harm our lawn? [more inside]
posted by 14580 on Sep 27, 2008 - 12 answers

Going to Japan over the 1st week of November: where to see autumn colours? [more inside]
posted by destrius on Sep 18, 2008 - 8 answers

Can you think of any godly reason why I should not eat the leaves of my cauliflower plants? [more inside]
posted by serazin on Jul 31, 2008 - 10 answers

TreeFilter: How do I know what is actually dead? [more inside]
posted by stormygrey on Jul 23, 2008 - 8 answers

Hey man, is this plant what I think it is? [more inside]
posted by chillmost on Jul 4, 2008 - 16 answers

Revamp of old question: Need help identifying 3 southeastern Minnesota trees. [more inside]
posted by LittleNami on Jun 18, 2008 - 13 answers

Need help identifying 3 tree branches from the Southeastern Minnesota region. [more inside]
posted by LittleNami on May 24, 2008 - 7 answers

According to Michael Pollan's Eat Food article in the New York Times, we're supposed to eat more plants, esp leaves. So where are the leaf recipes? Does this come down to nothing more than spinach and lettuce salads or is there a interesting cuisine out there somewhere? Are there any cookbooks with leafy foods as their focus?
posted by bbranden1 on May 22, 2008 - 31 answers

How can I create lighting in my room that simulates the patterns made when the sunlight shines through a tree? [more inside]
posted by bchaplin on Apr 28, 2008 - 20 answers

The leaf tips are turning brown. Are my tulip plants dying? [more inside]
posted by Kwantsar on Mar 12, 2008 - 2 answers

How do you safely clean your 2nd story gutters from a steeply sloped roof? [more inside]
posted by lyam on Nov 21, 2007 - 9 answers

We just bought a house on 2 acres of wooded land. I need help with leaf management (fall is coming soon!) and path/trail maintenance. More specifically, I think I want suggestions for leaf blowers and string trimmers/brushcutters. [more inside]
posted by JMOZ on Sep 26, 2007 - 14 answers

I'm looking for people's past experiences visiting Julian, California. [more inside]
posted by AsRuinsAreToRome on Sep 20, 2007 - 14 answers

Amateur photographers want to find aspens in New Mexico. [more inside]
posted by 1f2frfbf on Sep 19, 2007 - 5 answers

I'm in foraging mode lately. I know fig leaves are edible, but how do I make them palatable? [more inside]
posted by maryh on Aug 9, 2006 - 2 answers

Have you ever used a lawn sweeper? [more inside]
posted by SashaPT on Sep 20, 2005 - 6 answers

I have a humongous pile of leaves in a corner of my back yard, that had been building up for about three years now. It is nearly four feet high and occupies about 15 square feet. I thought it would automatically turn into mulch, but this doesn't seem to be happening. None of the mulch or compost-related sites I've googled seem to deal with a leaf pile of this unwieldy size and bulk. How can I make this monster disappear into something that looks and acts like dirt?
posted by Faze on Nov 12, 2004 - 16 answers