leafraker

[boxofdelights]

Yesterday the weather was beautiful, the forecast was cold and wet, and it was almost Halloween. So, leaf raking. I had a lot of trees cut down in the back yard this summer, but in front there is a catalpa (big tree, big leaves), a crabapple (medium tree, tiny leaves), and a young oak (medium tree, medium leaves), as well as a lot of shrubs. I was concentrating on the sidewalks and the grass next to the sidewalks, thinking of trick-or-treaters and wet slippery leaves. Here's a bit I didn't get to:
I haven't risked a compost bin in the front yard before, but this year I did, just for leaves:
As you can see it is already full, and well tamped down, so I started another in the side yard:

Comments

[eeyorerin]

Happy birthday!

[boxofdelights]

Thank you!

[randomdreams]

Happy birthday!
How does leaf compost do for you? I feel like mine just blows away or turns to dust. I feel like I should mix it with cut grass to give it more mass and keep it in place.

[boxofdelights]

Thank you! The leaf piles just sit there and shrink until I want to do something else with that space and mix whatever is left into the active compost bin. I think the worms must be working on the leaves while they sit there, because the soil underneath is usually lovely.

Also Ursula Vernon's Io Moth PSA makes me happy to keep the leaf pile even if it isn't doing anything else: https://ursulav.livejournal.com/1559844.html

[sovay]

So, leaf raking.

Thanks for the leaf-tour! You have some nice trees in your yard.

[boxofdelights]

If you click on the middle picture, of the full compost bin, you can see one tiny red crabapple that the squirrels haven't got to yet. They will finish the harvest eventually, crawling out to the ends of the flexible branches and hanging there like fat furry baubles.

[jinian]

Happy leafy birthday. :)

[boxofdelights]

Thank you!

[susanreads]

Happy birthday!

[boxofdelights]

Thank you!

[jesse_the_k]

Happy birthday, and congrats on all that raking.

Your front yard looks well-supplied with groundcover -- do you have to mow anything?

[boxofdelights]

I am reducing the amount of grass in front every year, but I still have to mow the weeds that grow in the gravel driveway and the strip between the sidewalk and the street. When I have time, I'm going to plant the sidewalk strip with Legacy buffalo grass, which grows maybe 4" tall and doesn't need mowing more than once a year!