Neighbor's leaves blowing all over

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I just spent a lot of money to have my fall leaves cleaned up. My neighbor just raked his in a big pile and left it out by the front sidewalk. I must say, however, in his behalf, that our village is supposed to come around and vacuum them up if you do that. The village truck never showed up on our block. Now the piles are blowing back on my lot. I called the village DPW and was informed hat they do not do leaf pick-up after Veteran's Day. What would you do?
 

I don't worry too much about leaves. I rake and bag but we have a lot of mature trees in the area and the pin oaks don't drop their leaves all at once. There is no way anyone can stop the leaves from blowing around the neighborhood and there are some neighbors physically unable to rake and bag. I agree with Aunt Bea--worry about it in the spring.
 

Just Mother Nature, I just got done cleaning out all of our gutters, did the back and the porch today. Winds will still kick up and blow leaves and pine needles all over the place. Got up most of my leaves in front over a week ago, with the blower, rake and trash bags. Since then more leaves have fallen from the trees, will do some more clean up this week before more snow comes in. Don't have any city vacuum services here, lucky now and then the street sweeper comes through and cleans along the curbs. Wouldn't afford it more worry than it's worth Deb.
 
We blow our leaves into the neighbor's yard. Then they borrow our leafblower and blow ours and theirs into the next yard. The leaves migrate all around the block.

All of us are too lazy to rake. LOL!
 
If leaves had some commercial value, I'd be a millionaire. Our place is surrounded by huge oak, walnut, and hickory, etc. trees, and in the Fall they carpet the yard several inches deep...if I don't do anything. I keep the gutters blown out, and move the bulk of the leaves away from the house with the backpack blower. For the rest of them, I just put the mulching plate on the riding mower, and drive around the yard for an hour or so...two or three times each Fall. AFter they are ground up, they create a thin layer of mulch which helps hold the moisture, and gives the Springtime grass season a "jump start".
 
I remember when all the dads in my neighborhood raked their leaves over into the ditches that ran between the yards and the street. When the ditch was full, they'd burn the leaves. There'd be a smoky smell hanging over the neighborhood just about every weekend in the fall. Of course, all the boys would have contests jumping over the smoldering ditches until they'd be chased off.
 
jujube said:
I remember when all the dads in my neighborhood raked their leaves over into the ditches that ran between the yards and the street. When the ditch was full, they'd burn the leaves. There'd be a smoky smell hanging over the neighborhood just about every weekend in the fall. Of course, all the boys would have contests jumping over the smoldering ditches until they'd be chased off.
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Now most communities ban leaf burning.
 
Our leaves are all gone, off the trees and off the street, but we've had to endure the noise of those awful leaf blowers for days and days as the professionals did the job of dealing with them. I don't see why they can't just stay where they are and get blown into corners by the wind and eventually turn to whatever it is they turn into through the winter, or is it bad for the lawns?
 
I heard that if leaves are left on the ground over winter, especially if there's a lot of snow, they will smother the grass.

I noticed a big pile of leaves in front of another neighbor's house, and he used to be a village trustee!
 
debodun said:
I heard that if leaves are left on the ground over winter, especially if there's a lot of snow, they will smother the grass.

I noticed a big pile of leaves in front of another neighbor's house, and he used to be a village trustee!
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Yup, if you have a thick carpet of leaves on the ground throughout the Winter, they will tend to kill out a lot of the grass. If you want to leave them on the ground, it is best to mulch them up with the mower in the Fall, and they will rot out during the Winter, and supply some free fertilizer.
 
Sounds like my neighbour. His leaves dropped and blew all over my garden and another neighbour. I had to rake up all the leaves in my garden as did my other neighbour. The only persomn who has not raked up any leaves is the person who owns the tree. :)
 
I mulch with the lawn mower as much as I can dead leaves, grass and soft/small dead plants & twigs. Put the lawn mower wheels has high as you can get them close off all openings then push the mower over the debris. Sometimes a little raking before and after helps the debris spread out and decay faster. I'm worried about trash from neighbors. Have one neighbor that doesn't pick the trash off their lawn before mowing and we wind up with confetti all over the place.
 
Don M. said:
Yup, if you have a thick carpet of leaves on the ground throughout the Winter, they will tend to kill out a lot of the grass. If you want to leave them on the ground, it is best to mulch them up with the mower in the Fall, and they will rot out during the Winter, and supply some free fertilizer.
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I agree Don, we don't have many leaves in the back yard on the grass, but we always just mowed them without the bag and that worked fine. In the front where I do most of my leaf clean-up each year, the yard is rocked in, so the leaves have to be blown or raked off and bagged up that way.

Another reason why homeowners in cities or suburbs clean up leaves in the fall, is that if left on the sidewalk and exposed to rain, snow and on and off frigid temps, they can be very slippery and treacherous to walk on. Never mind the mess they make when you're trying to clear the sidewalks by shoveling snow and you have a bunch of wet frozen leaves underneath each shovel full.

Blocking the sewers is another thing. I also clear along the curb in front of my house and the gutter too. When the waters from the snow start flowing down the street into the sewers, they should have a clear path so as not to have flooded large puddles for people to cross over on foot. Also, the excessive leaves shouldn't be left to clog the sewer drains.
 
Living way out in the countryside...with hundreds of huge trees on the property, I have a Lot of "leaf" work to do. The gravel road has a ditch where the leaves congregate, and if I let them go, they will clog up the culvert under the driveway, when it rains/snows, and make a mess of it. So, I blow the leaves from about 30 feet into the property, into the ditch, and burn them all up...2 or 3 times each Fall. Then, I put the mulching plate on the riding mower, and drive around the yard, and grind them all up....that way, they rot through the Winter, and create some fresh "soil" for the next Spring. Out here in the boondocks, leaves are easy to deal with, but I can sympathize with those living in the city, and having minimal means to deal with a lot of leaves. Today, I made what should be the last pass with the mower for this year, and I'm already looking forward to Spring. If the long range forecast is correct, today will be the last day we see temperatures in the upper 40's/low 50's for the next couple of months.
 
This is me working on my fall leaf clean-up (not really). :playful:

 

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