Lincolnite

I am usually the last on my side of the block because I have neighbors who go beyond fanatic about their yards.  There is one fella who sweeps his sidewalk and driveway every day over the lunch hour.

Because of the trees across the street who drop their leaves much later than mine, I get to rake twice a year.  This year I was on top of it though since I made a good effort and had my best lawn in the 10 years I have lived there.

Waiting for a good and windy evening so I do not have to bag the second round 😉

Our trees are very late to drop their leaves. Last year it wasn’t until the middle of winter that they actually fell, so I usually don’t do anything until then.  If my trees still have leaves, then why should I pick up my neighbors leaves?  I suppose that’s not very neighborly of me…

Why people rake leaves, and then buy fertilizer confounds me.  MULCH LEAVES!  They’re organic, free fertilizer.

Perhaps becuase fertilizer granules will seep down to the soil and not harm the grass. If one were to compost the leaves, it would make for great mulch. To not rake and leave the leaves would simply smother and kill most lawns.

Instead of raking, I’d hit it with a mower - faster and easier. That will help with your composting, if that’s your thing. I have mine all carried away with lawn waste. I don’t have many leaves and only very small trees.

Same here. I only use the rake to more evenly distribute the drifts of leaves that end up against the fence back over the lawn. Then I mow them. (I have a mulching mower.)

I did it for the first time Sunday, I’ll probably do it a couple more times as weather allows in Nov/Dec.

I agree with the original post’s pangs of guilt though. My tree is ginormous, and only 1/4 of the leaves actually fall in my yard. the rest end up in my neighbor’s yards as they fall or the wind blows. It always makes me feel guilty.

Personally, I think you’re good ‘til mid-November.  While our ash trees have all dropped there are still lots of maples and oaks full of leaves.

Long ago in St. Louis, a radio show featured a gardening / horticulture expert on a call-in show.

Caller asked “I have several trees in the back of my lot and there are pine needles and leaves all around.  Is that bad for the trees?”

There was a long pause and the expert asked “Have you ever been in the forest?”

I never raked my leaves when I had a house.  Those mulched leaves decayed over winter and my grass was thick and green.  Gotta mow them good though.  2-3 times over.  Only good reason for raking, imo, was to have a big pile to throw the kids in.

See #3 on the UNL page:

http://extensionhorticulture.unl.edu/Weekly/091009.shtml#Three

I raked mine this weekend, and I’m not gonna lie - I’ve been eying my neighbors’ leaf-covered lawn across the street hoping that they rake soon.  I don’t want to have to rake all over again.

Personally, I don’t see the issue. Leaves are pretty good looking pieces of nature, and we get to see over manicured lawns a good 9 months out of the year. Why not just leave them there…sweep off the sidewalks and porches etc. Just call it an art piece of nature!

While I am among the ‘wait until I only have to do it once’ bunch, at least I eventually rake and mulch unlike my across-the-street neighbor who blew his entire crop into the middle of 9th street last weekend. I was torn between being the snitch and letting it go - not even sure there’s a city regulation against it.