>Fall Leaf Clean-up Help
By Marie Iannotti, About.com Guide
Autumn leaves start out beautiful, but eventually they become just a mess on the lawn. Fall clean-up of leaves is not a chore most gardeners look forward to. Some gardeners wonder if it is even necessary to rake leaves. Won’t the leaves just compost naturally on the lawn?
Yes they will. If you only have a few leaves, you may be better off letting them blow off into the bushes, turning into mulch and fertilizer. Or your might want to run the lawn mower over them and let them feed the lawn. But if you have substantial leaves, so many that you can’t see the lawn underneath, the leaves will smother and kill the grass long before they turn into fertilizer.
If that is the case, one way or another, you are gong to have to collect the leaves from your lawn and there really aren’t that many options.
Leaf Raking Options
Attach a Bagging System to your Lawn Mower. This is especially nice with lawn tractors. If you have a large property, mature trees or a bad back, a leaf bagger will make your life much easier. As with most mechanical leaf cleanup, the leaves will need to be dry or you will clog the mower and the bagger.
Use a Hand Held Leaf Blower/Vacuum These are very popular in suburbia and I’ve never figured out why. They are loud, heavy and the user always seems to wind up fixated on blowing that last renegade leaf, keeping at it long after I could have walked over, bent down and picked it up. In their favor, blower/vacs do a nice job of shredding dry leaves and they make quick work of clearing driveways and sidewalks. However don’t waste your time trying to use one on wet leaves.
