Leaves

[The Sum of Awe]

So I have a huge pile of leaves in my yard, forgot to put them on the road for the city to scrape them up, the city already came... So now I will have that huge mound of leaves in my yard all winter long.

Should I be worried? I hear things about snow mold, my dad said he leaves leaves in his yard (not necessarily in a mound like I have them though) and he never had issues. Even if I get snow mold, does that necessarily mean my lawn is screwed permanently? I'm not afraid of temporary ugliness so long as my grass comes back.

 

[We Never Know]

So I have a huge pile of leaves in my yard, forgot to put them on the road for the city to scrape them up, the city already came... So now I will have that huge mound of leaves in my yard all winter long.

Should I be worried? I hear things about snow mold, my dad said he leaves leaves in his yard (not necessarily in a mound like I have them though) and he never had issues. Even if I get snow mold, does that necessarily mean my lawn is screwed permanently? I'm not afraid of temporary ugliness so long as my grass comes back.

Leaving them in the yard, if there are many, hinders grass growth.

Burned all mine last week. This was the year where I burn them where they lay.
-One year I will blow/gather them all up to haul out of the yard to burn
-the next two years I mulch them
-the forth year I burn them where they lay

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Leaving them in the yard, if there are many, hinders grass growth.

Burned all mine last week. This was the year where I burn them where they lay.
-One year I will blow/gather them all up to haul out of the yard to burn
-the next two years I mulch them
-the forth year I burn them where they lay

Looks like I will have to bag them up and take them someplace. We are not allowed to burn them here.

 

[Quintessence]

There's no such thing as permanently screwing up, especially for something that is already screwed up to begin with. Presuming you have the typical biotic desert and ecological wasteland that is the typical American lawn, that's a permanent ugliness that wastes energy, contributes little to local biodiversity and ecosystems, and outta be banned nationwide if we had any land sense in this country at all.

See - Are Lawns Bad?

That article has good tips for if you must maintain your biotic desert to at least make it slightly less awful.

 

[ChristineM]

We don't get too many, perhaps enough to fill 3 or 4 100 litre sacks over a few weeks.

We then take the sacks to the déchetterie (public tip) and dump them in the compost skip. We don't have council collection.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

There's no such thing as permanently screwing up, especially for something that is already screwed up to begin with. Presuming you have the typical biotic desert and ecological wasteland that is the typical American lawn, that's a permanent ugliness that wastes energy, contributes little to local biodiversity and ecosystems, and outta be banned nationwide if we had any land sense in this country at all.

See - Are Lawns Bad?

That article has good tips for if you must maintain your biotic desert to at least make it slightly less awful.

I find the idea of growing more weeds in place of grass so there's less mowing to be a neat idea, but my neighbors are very close and I'd hate for it to spread and them getting angry at me. Plus I enjoy mowing, the exercise is nice (even though I go for walks on top of it)

 

[pearl]

One alternative is to go over them with the lawn mower and mulch them, doing less harm. They have not picked ours up yet and won't for a couple of weeks. It always a race to see which comes first, leaf pickup or snow. What a mess it the latter is first, and streets are plowed.

 

[exchemist]

So I have a huge pile of leaves in my yard, forgot to put them on the road for the city to scrape them up, the city already came... So now I will have that huge mound of leaves in my yard all winter long.

Should I be worried? I hear things about snow mold, my dad said he leaves leaves in his yard (not necessarily in a mound like I have them though) and he never had issues. Even if I get snow mold, does that necessarily mean my lawn is screwed permanently? I'm not afraid of temporary ugliness so long as my grass comes back.

Can you not bag them up and take them to the municipal tip yourself, if you've missed the collection date? If the wind comes, they'll blow all over the place and you'll have to sweep them up all over again.

 

[Father Heathen]

There's no such thing as permanently screwing up, especially for something that is already screwed up to begin with. Presuming you have the typical biotic desert and ecological wasteland that is the typical American lawn, that's a permanent ugliness that wastes energy, contributes little to local biodiversity and ecosystems, and outta be banned nationwide if we had any land sense in this country at all.

See - Are Lawns Bad?

That article has good tips for if you must maintain your biotic desert to at least make it slightly less awful.

What feasible alternative would you recommend?

 

[Father Heathen]

Looks like I will have to bag them up and take them someplace. We are not allowed to burn them here.

Does your city have a facility where residents can drop off waste, recyclables, and compost?

 

[JustGeorge]

This is the first year I've raked...

And that was just to move the leaves from the maple in the front yard to the back yard. We threw down grass seed, and a landscaper told us to throw grass seed in the fall and let the leaves cover and warm it in the winter, and in spring, it should have a good start.

Nature tends to take care of herself. I've never had a problem with leaving leaves.

 

[Revoltingest]

So I have a huge pile of leaves in my yard, forgot to put them on the road for the city to scrape them up, the city already came... So now I will have that huge mound of leaves in my yard all winter long.

Should I be worried? I hear things about snow mold, my dad said he leaves leaves in his yard (not necessarily in a mound like I have them though) and he never had issues. Even if I get snow mold, does that necessarily mean my lawn is screwed permanently? I'm not afraid of temporary ugliness so long as my grass comes back.

Options....
- Compost them somewhere on your property.
- Chop'm up with your mower.
- Let'm sit, & kill your grass.
- Put'm on your neighbor's yard (quietly in the middle of the nite).
- Bring'm to RF. I'll take'm for winter cover of me hostas.

 

[Quintessence]

What feasible alternative would you recommend?

The link I included actually has a fair number of decent suggestions.

I live in an HoA that isn't exactly open to getting rid of all the stupid lawn grass, but the bits of my yard I have control over I've made into native wildlife habitat as much as possible. Native shrubs, plus a mini prairie restoration. State universities and sometimes local non-profits will offer guidance an advice on doing this sort of thing. The specifics really depend on exactly where in the country you live but there are plenty of local experts. Around here some folks have added in some ground clover which covers nice and helps pollinators out, for example. Plus a legume, so it helps fix nutrients in your soil and keep your lawn more healthy anyway. Monocultures require too much inputs to sustain themselves and they aren't natural so even just adding a couple more species, especially a legume, can be great.

 

[Quintessence]

Here's one of the really helpful resources for lawn restoration in my area - Turf to Prairie – Good Neighbor Iowa

 

[Wildswanderer]

I never worry about leaves where I live. They just turn into dirt, you know.