all the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray
November 11, 2014 12:03 PM Subscribe
Stupid question filter: there are a lot of leaves on my lawn. I've never had a lawn before. What do I do with them?
I have two large maple (?) trees in my front lawn. They decided to suddenly drop all of their leaves. I have a few questions:
- Once I've raked them, what happens to the leaves on the street? Should I try to pick those up, too? The wind is blowing them everywhere!
-Do the picked up leaves go in the trash, or are they recycled? Would people want my leaves for composting and such?
-Some of the leaves are getting on my neighbor's lawn. They have a tree of their own, but my leaves are not helping matters. Should I offer to rake their leaves?
Do you have any other leaf-on-lawn tips you can offer? Thank you in advance!
I have two large maple (?) trees in my front lawn. They decided to suddenly drop all of their leaves. I have a few questions:
- Once I've raked them, what happens to the leaves on the street? Should I try to pick those up, too? The wind is blowing them everywhere!
-Do the picked up leaves go in the trash, or are they recycled? Would people want my leaves for composting and such?
-Some of the leaves are getting on my neighbor's lawn. They have a tree of their own, but my leaves are not helping matters. Should I offer to rake their leaves?
Do you have any other leaf-on-lawn tips you can offer? Thank you in advance!
Various places have various ways of dealing with leaves. Here in Minneapolis, we have to rake them into big paper bags and set them out by our garbage. They get composted. In other cities, you might just have to rake them into a pile on a certain day and a truck comes by and vacuums them up. Out in the country, most people drag them out to the woods or burn them.
I have never heard of anyone reasonable expecting you to deal with any leaves that exit your property.
posted by advicepig at 12:08 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have never heard of anyone reasonable expecting you to deal with any leaves that exit your property.
posted by advicepig at 12:08 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Find out whether your municipality collects leaves. If they do, find out when. In a typical suburban area leaves get raked/blown into piles at the street, where a big vacuum truck comes by to suck them up and takes them to a composting facility.
Leaves on your neighbors' lawns are not your problem.
posted by jon1270 at 12:08 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Leaves on your neighbors' lawns are not your problem.
posted by jon1270 at 12:08 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: (1) Leaves on the street are public leaves. I will sweep up the ones in my own gutter but that's about it.
(2) This depends on your city sold waste system. If there isn't a special leaf collection system, they go in the trash. Definitely NOT recycling. If you are still in Boise, it looks like Republic Services handle your trash, and they do indeed have leaf collection days.
(3) Leaves on your neighbor's lawn are your neighbors to rake up. It is definitely a nice, neighborly thing to do to offer to rake them up while you're at it, but it's by no means required.
posted by muddgirl at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2014
(2) This depends on your city sold waste system. If there isn't a special leaf collection system, they go in the trash. Definitely NOT recycling. If you are still in Boise, it looks like Republic Services handle your trash, and they do indeed have leaf collection days.
(3) Leaves on your neighbor's lawn are your neighbors to rake up. It is definitely a nice, neighborly thing to do to offer to rake them up while you're at it, but it's by no means required.
posted by muddgirl at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2014
Their leaves are getting on your lawn, too, so everyone just takes care of their own plot of land.
You might go over and ask your neighbor what your municipality does with the leaves - we have special yard-waste-dumpster pickups plus leaf pickup from the street gutters every couple weeks (there are signs posted at the top of each street telling when pick up is).
posted by notsnot at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2014
You might go over and ask your neighbor what your municipality does with the leaves - we have special yard-waste-dumpster pickups plus leaf pickup from the street gutters every couple weeks (there are signs posted at the top of each street telling when pick up is).
posted by notsnot at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2014
you can run them over with your mulching lawnmower and theoretically grind them into little pieces that will dissolve into the grass. But I've never had that work right, ever.
You can, if allowed, pile them into a large pile and burn them. But I think that's illegal pretty much everywhere but in the sticks.
posted by k5.user at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2014
You can, if allowed, pile them into a large pile and burn them. But I think that's illegal pretty much everywhere but in the sticks.
posted by k5.user at 12:10 PM on November 11, 2014
- Once I've raked them, what happens to the leaves on the street? Should I try to pick those up, too?
Talk to your local government, but I'd be surprised if you have any responsibility for them.
Do the picked up leaves go in the trash, or are they recycled?
Talk to your local government. Some places they're trash, some places they're recycled, some places they go in special bags. Where I live, we just rake them into the street and the town sends trucks to slurp them up.
Would people want my leaves for composting and such?
Unless trees are kinda rare where you are (not joking; haven't been there) I expect that nobody needs your leaves and pretty much everyone has more than they can handle.
Should I offer to rake their leaves?
Only if they are crumbly old geezers or disabled or similar.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:11 PM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Talk to your local government, but I'd be surprised if you have any responsibility for them.
Do the picked up leaves go in the trash, or are they recycled?
Talk to your local government. Some places they're trash, some places they're recycled, some places they go in special bags. Where I live, we just rake them into the street and the town sends trucks to slurp them up.
Would people want my leaves for composting and such?
Unless trees are kinda rare where you are (not joking; haven't been there) I expect that nobody needs your leaves and pretty much everyone has more than they can handle.
Should I offer to rake their leaves?
Only if they are crumbly old geezers or disabled or similar.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:11 PM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I'd just ask the neighbors what the deal is with leaves in your area. Where I grew up, you'd just rake them into a pile by the side of the road.
Some of the leaves are getting on my neighbor's lawn. They have a tree of their own, but my leaves are not helping matters. Should I offer to rake their leaves?
Do you assess the provenance of every bit of matter that blows onto your lawn and then resent the person whose lawn it came from?
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:12 PM on November 11, 2014
Some of the leaves are getting on my neighbor's lawn. They have a tree of their own, but my leaves are not helping matters. Should I offer to rake their leaves?
Do you assess the provenance of every bit of matter that blows onto your lawn and then resent the person whose lawn it came from?
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:12 PM on November 11, 2014
Best answer: It's not clear from the picture, but if you have a sidewalk that is covered by the leaves, you probably want to get them off the sidewalk as well as the lawn. Wet leaves can be slippy, and you don't want someone getting hurt in front of your house.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:13 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 12:13 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'd just let them become mulch in their own time and maybe run over them with a lawnmower. Be careful if you do that to not go through too deep a pile, I have set the mower on fire that way...
posted by Trifling at 12:14 PM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Trifling at 12:14 PM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Get a good, wide rake. Wear gloves when you rake. Kayak or bike gloves that have padding between your thumb and forefinger are good.
Call your town or ask your neighbors. Each town is different. Some will pick up yard waste year round, others on only certain weekends in spring and fall. Some require you to bag it in biodegradable bags. Some allow you to rake it to the curb and they come by with a big vacuum truck. Each town is different. Call.
Leaves that fall on your neighbor's lawn are you neighbor's leaves. Let him/her rake them. Certainly some of the leaves on your lawn came from trees not on your property. When you see them out raking, the traditional thing to say is "Heh... sorry about those leaves!" and then continue doing what you're doing.
My wife uses some leaves for compost, but not many.
Clean your gutters once all the leaves are done falling.
Raking leaves while high is surprisingly fun.
posted by bondcliff at 12:14 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Call your town or ask your neighbors. Each town is different. Some will pick up yard waste year round, others on only certain weekends in spring and fall. Some require you to bag it in biodegradable bags. Some allow you to rake it to the curb and they come by with a big vacuum truck. Each town is different. Call.
Leaves that fall on your neighbor's lawn are you neighbor's leaves. Let him/her rake them. Certainly some of the leaves on your lawn came from trees not on your property. When you see them out raking, the traditional thing to say is "Heh... sorry about those leaves!" and then continue doing what you're doing.
My wife uses some leaves for compost, but not many.
Clean your gutters once all the leaves are done falling.
Raking leaves while high is surprisingly fun.
posted by bondcliff at 12:14 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
I would advocate not removing all leaves from your lawn.
If you have a healthy lawn with earthworms in the ground they will actually gather and pull leaves under ground which will add nutrients back into the ground.
Also, if you have hedgehogs where you live they will appreciate a pile of leaves in a quiet corner somewhere which they can use it for hibernating.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:16 PM on November 11, 2014
If you have a healthy lawn with earthworms in the ground they will actually gather and pull leaves under ground which will add nutrients back into the ground.
Also, if you have hedgehogs where you live they will appreciate a pile of leaves in a quiet corner somewhere which they can use it for hibernating.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:16 PM on November 11, 2014
Best answer: Here are the yard waste disposal guidelines for Boise (if that's where you still are; if not, just Google "yard waste" + your location). Brown paper yard waste bags are going to be your best bet here so the leaves can be composted; they're cheap and available at hardware stores or any large home improvement store.
Get yourself a set of these and one of these to make the job go infinitely faster.
posted by anderjen at 12:18 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Get yourself a set of these and one of these to make the job go infinitely faster.
posted by anderjen at 12:18 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Do you own or rent? If you rent, check your lease and/or talk to your landlord to see what the expectations are.
If you own, your city's sanitation department may have a website that tells you when and how to leave leaves out.
posted by sockermom at 12:22 PM on November 11, 2014
If you own, your city's sanitation department may have a website that tells you when and how to leave leaves out.
posted by sockermom at 12:22 PM on November 11, 2014
Would people want my leaves for composting and such?
Maybe. If there are any community gardens in your neighborhood that compost they are often short on the high carbon, low nitrogen part of the mixture (e.g. dried leaves.) You could offer them up to them.
You can also make leaf mold out of them. Basically put them in a pile somewhere out of the way with some kind of cover (e.g. burlap bags) and let them sit. Over time (months and months) they'll decompose to a crumbly mulch (start looking for it at the bottom). It has very high water retaining properties and makes a very good mulch for other plants in your yard.
posted by sevenless at 12:22 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Maybe. If there are any community gardens in your neighborhood that compost they are often short on the high carbon, low nitrogen part of the mixture (e.g. dried leaves.) You could offer them up to them.
You can also make leaf mold out of them. Basically put them in a pile somewhere out of the way with some kind of cover (e.g. burlap bags) and let them sit. Over time (months and months) they'll decompose to a crumbly mulch (start looking for it at the bottom). It has very high water retaining properties and makes a very good mulch for other plants in your yard.
posted by sevenless at 12:22 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Number one Google Result for "Leaf disposal Boise Idaho"
posted by BigLankyBastard at 12:29 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by BigLankyBastard at 12:29 PM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Pro tip: rake them before they get wet and nasty. Much easier. Also, watch out for dog poo.
posted by BlueHorse at 12:43 PM on November 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by BlueHorse at 12:43 PM on November 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
Do you have kids? Or favorite nieces and nephews? Build a blanket fort in the yard with old blankets and lawn chairs then bury the thing in leaves.
That's about as awesome of fall fun time as a kid can have.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:56 PM on November 11, 2014
That's about as awesome of fall fun time as a kid can have.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:56 PM on November 11, 2014
Yes, try to rake them when they're dry. Wet leaves aren't much fun. Depending on the size of your lawn, consider investing in a leaf blower. I got an electric one, and while serviceable, I wish I had opted for the gas-powered backpack model, but I have a 1-1/2 city plot. Also plan on doing your leaves more than once, considering how much they get blown about. I've done mine twice already, and will probably need to once more before our pickup day.
posted by slogger at 12:58 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by slogger at 12:58 PM on November 11, 2014
Best answer: I bought this ~$100 leaf vacuum and I have to say it is pretty awesome. I rake the leaves into a pile, then vac them up. The vac mulches the leaves into bits, which I then pour out around bushes and stuff like mulch - they disintegrate over a few months.
posted by Mid at 12:58 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by Mid at 12:58 PM on November 11, 2014
Also also, if you have the spare cash, chances are somebody will do your leaves for $25-$50. Look for signs around your neighborhood.
posted by slogger at 12:59 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by slogger at 12:59 PM on November 11, 2014
If you have children of a suitable age (if not now, you can keep this in mind for the future) the traditional solution is to make them do it. Repeatedly, since as you've noticed, the leaves keep blowing down for a while. Tell them it's character building. Remind them of how much you do for them. You can offer a reward or incentive; I can't speak to that but I'm sure it would work better than just telling them they have to.
posted by Athanassiel at 1:28 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Athanassiel at 1:28 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: You will need more bags than you imagine you will. (The bags seem a bit expensive, but that's because frequently the cost of the bag pays for not just the bag, but part of it goes to the city to help pay for the cost of leaf pickup, etc.)
It's good to clear the sidewalk at least a bit of what won't blow off on its own by the wind; wet mashed-down sidewalk leaves are dangerously slippery, especially for elderly people with uncertain balance. I don't bother with the gutters (my city doesn't vacuum the leaves -- we do bags -- but it does send street-sweepers to clear the gutters in the fall), but if there's a big clot of them blocking a drain I'll clear it.
After you've done this for a few years you'll start to figure out when the right time to rake is. My lawn-adjoining neighbor and I don't really bother until a) a particular tree a couple houses down has dropped its leaves and b) the winds have shifted to be coming out of the northwest for the winter. If they're coming from the southwest it'll alllllll blow away, and if that tree isn't done yet it's just a sisyphean labor. Once the winds shift northwest all the leaves left on the block blow into our combined yards and we have to face it.
Leaves, like rain, fall where they will, and due to the trees and the winds you may be lucky or unlucky in your raking requirements!
In my city the compost from the curbside leaf waste pickup provides mulch for city and park landscaping, and any citizen who is willing to drive to the big municipal mulch pile can pick up as much as they can carry for personal use. It's very convenient, they deal with it for however long it takes to mulch it (couple years), I get excellent mulch back!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:47 PM on November 11, 2014
It's good to clear the sidewalk at least a bit of what won't blow off on its own by the wind; wet mashed-down sidewalk leaves are dangerously slippery, especially for elderly people with uncertain balance. I don't bother with the gutters (my city doesn't vacuum the leaves -- we do bags -- but it does send street-sweepers to clear the gutters in the fall), but if there's a big clot of them blocking a drain I'll clear it.
After you've done this for a few years you'll start to figure out when the right time to rake is. My lawn-adjoining neighbor and I don't really bother until a) a particular tree a couple houses down has dropped its leaves and b) the winds have shifted to be coming out of the northwest for the winter. If they're coming from the southwest it'll alllllll blow away, and if that tree isn't done yet it's just a sisyphean labor. Once the winds shift northwest all the leaves left on the block blow into our combined yards and we have to face it.
Leaves, like rain, fall where they will, and due to the trees and the winds you may be lucky or unlucky in your raking requirements!
In my city the compost from the curbside leaf waste pickup provides mulch for city and park landscaping, and any citizen who is willing to drive to the big municipal mulch pile can pick up as much as they can carry for personal use. It's very convenient, they deal with it for however long it takes to mulch it (couple years), I get excellent mulch back!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:47 PM on November 11, 2014
If you have a wooded backyard, rake them up and dump them there. The house I grew up in had this (bonus that it was downhill so leaves didn't blow back into our backyard) and you're basically providing more nutrients to the forest, and reducing the amount that the city has to deal with. if you don't have a woodsy backyard, this advice does not apply.
posted by DoubleLune at 1:50 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by DoubleLune at 1:50 PM on November 11, 2014
You can get a trash can that you just use for leaves, though it looks like Boise unfortunately doesn't compost those leaves (they do in Boston where I am). If you don't mind sending the leaves to landfill, I'd recommend this option rather than buying paper bags every year -- they aren't exactly expensive but it adds up over the years. Since you have multiple pick ups you can just stuff the can as full as possible each time and pile any additional leaves each week.
Also, you can get your own composter and compost the leaves yourself. It's good stuff to put back into your own planting beds.
posted by cubby at 1:51 PM on November 11, 2014
Also, you can get your own composter and compost the leaves yourself. It's good stuff to put back into your own planting beds.
posted by cubby at 1:51 PM on November 11, 2014
If you buy that leaf-vacuum, know that it also works as a blower, so you can blow them all into a corner or up against something, change out the attachment and make it a vacuum/shredder, and then not really have to rake except as mop-up.
posted by resurrexit at 2:18 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by resurrexit at 2:18 PM on November 11, 2014
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this, but we have a lawnmower with grass collection bag, and we just mow over the leaves to pick them up. This both is faster than raking, and also breaks them down so many more of them fit in your yard waste bin/bag.
posted by telepanda at 2:28 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by telepanda at 2:28 PM on November 11, 2014
Also, in regard to the brown paper leaf bags--don't fill the bags all the way to the top (especially if the leaves are wet, read "heavy") because the leaf pickup people won't pickup bags if they're over a certain weight.
I had to divy leaves into multiple bags and then only put out a couple of bags a week (I think they'd only take 2 at a time for free) for a few weeks until I got rid of two trees worth of wet leaves.
posted by blueberry at 2:52 PM on November 11, 2014
I had to divy leaves into multiple bags and then only put out a couple of bags a week (I think they'd only take 2 at a time for free) for a few weeks until I got rid of two trees worth of wet leaves.
posted by blueberry at 2:52 PM on November 11, 2014
I have WAY more than just two maples, and what I do is rake them all to the sidewalk or the street (whichever is closest) and run them over with a mower set to down medium low (you will have to experiment with this-I run it as low as I can without the mower choking) with no bag on it-this turns the leaves into little leaf crumbs (mulching). Than I set the mower down to the lowest setting, put on the bag and vacuum them up. I rake them to the sidewalk/street so I can set the mower down really, really low for the final pickup and get them all up and mulching them twice this way turns them into something looking like dirt and they compost really fast over the winter this way (Boise is significantly colder winters than the Willamette Valley so ymmv).
I have to do this every 3-7 days or whenever it isn't raining here for about a month to keep from getting overwhelmed with my large lot and large trees (really big ones).
For the early/late leaves i do just mulch them into the grass with one pass, but for about 2-3 weeks i would choke out the grass with inches of wet/slimy leaf mulch every year.
I then till the resulting compost into my garden and I let it be known at work that anyone who wants some leaf mulch is free to come and get it and I usually lose a pickup load or two of the mulch every year as well (I usually have about 5 pickup loads of MULCHED leaves every year-without mulching this would be 10x as much).
posted by bartonlong at 2:54 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
I have to do this every 3-7 days or whenever it isn't raining here for about a month to keep from getting overwhelmed with my large lot and large trees (really big ones).
For the early/late leaves i do just mulch them into the grass with one pass, but for about 2-3 weeks i would choke out the grass with inches of wet/slimy leaf mulch every year.
I then till the resulting compost into my garden and I let it be known at work that anyone who wants some leaf mulch is free to come and get it and I usually lose a pickup load or two of the mulch every year as well (I usually have about 5 pickup loads of MULCHED leaves every year-without mulching this would be 10x as much).
posted by bartonlong at 2:54 PM on November 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Best answer: One of the very best things about living in Boulder is that nearly every winter we can count on a strong wind soon after all the leaves are down. Then the people in Lafayette get to worry about what to do with the leaves.
Or, in an extraordinary year, the people in Kansas.
posted by Bruce H. at 4:09 PM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Or, in an extraordinary year, the people in Kansas.
posted by Bruce H. at 4:09 PM on November 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
Another tool for getting your leaves out to the curb is a yard tarp. They come in different sizes, but basically, it's a tarp with some handles so you can drag it or "bag" it over where you want it. Really helps with the big jobs (I've been using one all week) -- at least it makes the raking seem less Sisyphean as you tumble a pile over and over and over again or where you tumbled a pile just before.
posted by dhartung at 4:14 PM on November 11, 2014
posted by dhartung at 4:14 PM on November 11, 2014
Response by poster: I had no idea that the city would collect leaves, I thought it was a fairly independent thing like gardening. This is great!
We have a reel mower. It's a very nice reel mower, but it unfortunately won't pick up leaves for us! We might invest in a leaf vacuum like the one Mid suggested.
I will leave my neighbor's lawn alone. I hadn't thought about all the other leaves that land in our yard - we live on a corner so we get quite a few from other places.
Thank you everyone for your answers. I really appreciate them!
posted by cobain_angel at 6:34 PM on November 11, 2014
We have a reel mower. It's a very nice reel mower, but it unfortunately won't pick up leaves for us! We might invest in a leaf vacuum like the one Mid suggested.
I will leave my neighbor's lawn alone. I hadn't thought about all the other leaves that land in our yard - we live on a corner so we get quite a few from other places.
Thank you everyone for your answers. I really appreciate them!
posted by cobain_angel at 6:34 PM on November 11, 2014
You will need more bags than you imagine you will. (The bags seem a bit expensive, but that's because frequently the cost of the bag pays for not just the bag, but part of it goes to the city to help pay for the cost of leaf pickup, etc.)
Some municipalities require you to use specific bags with built-in pricing for handling. Others will take any old paper bag, and still others will take any old paper bag, but only if it has a sticker on it (or even just require a sticker outside of specified "free pick up" dates).
It is true that you will probably need a ton of bags, and they are available in lots of places. We used 35 of them this year (they typically come in 5s, so it was easy to keep track) and only have one tree of our own on a smallish lot. Even (especially?) for the non-fee-bearing paper bags, the difference in prices can be substantial. If you get them early enough at a place like ALDI, they're about 30 cents each. They get damn near a dollar at the "nice" grocery stores. Hardware stores are closer to ALDI prices. You can treat yourself to a nice lunch on your savings if you can find them on the cheap.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 7:35 AM on November 12, 2014
Some municipalities require you to use specific bags with built-in pricing for handling. Others will take any old paper bag, and still others will take any old paper bag, but only if it has a sticker on it (or even just require a sticker outside of specified "free pick up" dates).
It is true that you will probably need a ton of bags, and they are available in lots of places. We used 35 of them this year (they typically come in 5s, so it was easy to keep track) and only have one tree of our own on a smallish lot. Even (especially?) for the non-fee-bearing paper bags, the difference in prices can be substantial. If you get them early enough at a place like ALDI, they're about 30 cents each. They get damn near a dollar at the "nice" grocery stores. Hardware stores are closer to ALDI prices. You can treat yourself to a nice lunch on your savings if you can find them on the cheap.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 7:35 AM on November 12, 2014
We got a leaf blower/vacuum thingy, a decent one. It was way more work and more annoying then just raking and bag the leaves. This is from someone who currently has 40 bags of leaves sitting outside her house waiting for collection and will have more again soon. Don't waste your time with the vacuum thingy, just get a good metal rake and a bunch of bags.
posted by katers890 at 8:40 AM on November 13, 2014
posted by katers890 at 8:40 AM on November 13, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
Some leaves from the street will end up back on your lawn. Life is like that.
Your neighbors will need to rake their own lawn. Or you could do a Frog and Toad and rake their lawn, why not?
posted by selfnoise at 12:07 PM on November 11, 2014 [5 favorites]