I know it's far better to compost the leaves, but I miss the smell of Fall when homeowners would burn small piles of leaves at the curb... Guess I'm older than dirt now...
I've always wondered if throwing the leaves away deprives the tree of the nutrients needed to grow new leaves and that's kind of the reason they drop in the first place
Tip for fall cleanup: use your lawnmower. Remove the bag and put the discharge chute on. Move in a direction that blasts the leaf bits to the center of your lawn and go in a continuous circle around the perimeter of the lawn and spiral in. When it's all in one large line and a fine leaf dust, run over it with the bag back on and the chute off. Boom, you've fertilized and insulated your soil, fit the rest into two or three bags, and used one tool to do it all.
Yep. You can hire those companies just to come in and pick up the pile if you don't want to haul them elsewhere or don't have the land to dump them on annually. Raking them was easy compared to the hauling by hand.
Over 30 years ago working for the city helping doing clean up after a storm, workers were using those to get up leaves that were like that in the video. A woman let their dog out that came charging towards the workers and they shut the machine down and told them to take their dog inside. She got her dog then after the workers started working again she let it down and it ran right up to the tube and before they could do anything it got sucked up and splattered against the front of the truck
I started to do this about four years venyears ago and everything worked out fine. Nothing bad happened. Ground underneath is the same the next yr. A bit of cleanup in spring but quite minor.
I'm generally all for "leave the ecosystem be," but there are absolutely downsides to leaving THIS many leaves lying around. On wet pavement it becomes dangerously slippery. Not just for people, but cars as well (I live on a steep hill, and have seen cars start to slide because of the leaves). If they're on dirt, sure, I leave them, but they can only decompose so quickly in a giant pile, and certainly not entirely before they're blown right back onto pavement and roads after a windy day.
As pro leaving shit where it is that I am, those leaves are on pavement. They'll turn into slippery mud, clog storm drains, and fertilize nothing where they are. Chop and spread or pile them in the garden, but this is neat for this nanny goddamn leaves in the street
I recently did the leaves in my yard. Off my driveway alone I got a VW Bug sized pile of leaves. If I don't do the leaves on my yard it takes about 2.5 years for them decompose. Unfortunately, I get new leaves every year, so my yard was 1.5-2 years worth of leaves at all times until I started doing the leaves, and the only thing that grows in those conditions are these stringy little vines. I get far more animals now than when I let the leaves be and far more stuff grows.
IKR. I don’t get why people are so obsessed about leaves.
My mother rakes them up every day during autumn. First of all, fuck that. Second of all: if you’re going to rake them up, why not wait a bit until at least most of the leaves have fallen off so that you don’t play Sisyphus every day?
We have trees that drop an absurd amount of leaves every year. Waiting until they all fall is not an option, and cutting down the trees is not up to me (not that I would want to cut them down if it was). Frankly, most of my issue is related to safety: living on a steep hill means slick surfaces are a hazard, and leaves + water + dirt + time = ice-like slipperiness if unattended. At the bare minimum I have to keep the sidewalks clear so someone doesn't fall on my property and sue.
Oh, in those cases, yes, sure. Same thing as with snow and ice: as per the law (at least in my country) if somebody slips on the sidewalk that’s next to your property, you’re the responsible party.
What I meant was trees deep within your property that just drop leaves on the grass and dirt around them, nowhere near the road and the sidewalk.
I don't mind grass when its used. But fucking no one hangs out in thier front yard. Total waste of fucking space imo. Basically just a toilet for the shithead neighbor's dog.
Haven't seen any local fireflies/lightning bugs since the mid-to-late 1990's before the majority of what forest my neighborhood had, was well into being cleared; summer nights with the yellow glow of a streetlight at the corner, mostly blocked out by the two large oaks' branches in the front lawn had provided the only opportunities I ever recognized, in MA.
Remember seeing a few just into the early 2000's in MD, but didn't see any over summertime down in SC / GA, back in 2021.
Snow44444
Everything reminds me of her.
BelethorsOverratedGoods
yeah, okay. but where do your hedgehogs sleep?
Munchman347
I know it's far better to compost the leaves, but I miss the smell of Fall when homeowners would burn small piles of leaves at the curb... Guess I'm older than dirt now...
ShimmerinStrider
God. this SUUUUUUUUUUCKS!
jax523
Damn man, I used to live in that neighborhood, I think. Been a while.
CrumbyCake
He missed a whole line, what the fuck man
fstngutz
We do this in the Midwest. Depending how covered the ground is, usually another truck down the block.
sevro77
Now LEAVE!
Snow44444
Well, that sucks.
E1evenChar1ie
I've always wondered if throwing the leaves away deprives the tree of the nutrients needed to grow new leaves and that's kind of the reason they drop in the first place
TheobromineAddict
"Fall Cleanup" So this business only operates for a couple months of the year? That's a lot of equipment to sit idle for 3\4 ,
onecowboytoo
Has almost as much suction as your mom.
MisterLemons
Tip for fall cleanup: use your lawnmower. Remove the bag and put the discharge chute on. Move in a direction that blasts the leaf bits to the center of your lawn and go in a continuous circle around the perimeter of the lawn and spiral in. When it's all in one large line and a fine leaf dust, run over it with the bag back on and the chute off. Boom, you've fertilized and insulated your soil, fit the rest into two or three bags, and used one tool to do it all.
tinyfootprints
That sucks.
Cutwail
Still less skilled than Joe Mama
RetiredLaserMan
The Trump-O-Matic 4547
aristera
I fell like the people who scream, "just leave the leaves and let them decompose." are people who don't own property.
NeverTrustThisNewInternetThingy
My second name? Hedgehogmuncher!
0570
... I should call her.
RetrogradeLlama
Yep. You can hire those companies just to come in and pick up the pile if you don't want to haul them elsewhere or don't have the land to dump them on annually. Raking them was easy compared to the hauling by hand.
CaldariBob
Just wait for a strong wind!
sv1rr
When Donald sees Bill.
Hooliehan
https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1cDdlcXd0ZG9iMXhkamptcXAxZ25wdGg4NHlkMTd1N3VuYXEwZGd2dSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/4hZ1Al84yxsXK/200w.webp the hedgehog inside the pile
AlienJeffries81
Has anyone seen my chihuahua?
Jaqdakloun
(looks back and forth nervously) Nnnnnnnnno
StaggerRhythms
My chihuahua loves leaf piles, she would absolutely go missing lol
stupidbastardinutah
ugopb4me
Nice
RuricOrhlandis
Over 30 years ago working for the city helping doing clean up after a storm, workers were using those to get up leaves that were like that in the video. A woman let their dog out that came charging towards the workers and they shut the machine down and told them to take their dog inside. She got her dog then after the workers started working again she let it down and it ran right up to the tube and before they could do anything it got sucked up and splattered against the front of the truck
drakkaris12718
My golden retriever is also lost...
TheOneWhoWasLeft
Nooo Stella!!
mormonbatman
Firefly Holocaust.
Polymathena
Starving the trees to death
drduffer
gifs that end too soon.
allmycommentsareGold
nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom
EverNotRelevant
Just let the leaves be. They fertilize the soil when they decompose, and provide habitats and food for wildlife in the meantime.
ExTechOp
There are mulching grass mowers that you can run over the leaves so they don't block the grass and become overwinter fertilizer and/or worm feed.
HardyandRamanujan
I started to do this about four years venyears ago and everything worked out fine. Nothing bad happened. Ground underneath is the same the next yr. A bit of cleanup in spring but quite minor.
XEtAl
I'm generally all for "leave the ecosystem be," but there are absolutely downsides to leaving THIS many leaves lying around. On wet pavement it becomes dangerously slippery. Not just for people, but cars as well (I live on a steep hill, and have seen cars start to slide because of the leaves). If they're on dirt, sure, I leave them, but they can only decompose so quickly in a giant pile, and certainly not entirely before they're blown right back onto pavement and roads after a windy day.
jridley
These were raked up from the surrounding houses. There wasn't this concentration of leaves before people raked them up and piled them in one spot.
SausageStuffer
Sometimes there’s just too much. I clean up the 2 acres around my house and leave the other 8 alone.
Mairoa
As pro leaving shit where it is that I am, those leaves are on pavement. They'll turn into slippery mud, clog storm drains, and fertilize nothing where they are. Chop and spread or pile them in the garden, but this is neat for this nanny goddamn leaves in the street
jridley
Yes, but they GOT on the pavement from the homeowners raking and putting them there.
Astramancer
I recently did the leaves in my yard. Off my driveway alone I got a VW Bug sized pile of leaves. If I don't do the leaves on my yard it takes about 2.5 years for them decompose. Unfortunately, I get new leaves every year, so my yard was 1.5-2 years worth of leaves at all times until I started doing the leaves, and the only thing that grows in those conditions are these stringy little vines. I get far more animals now than when I let the leaves be and far more stuff grows.
hellodee
I found toads under my leaves in the pond. Pretty cool
draginator
Breeding ground for ticks depending on where you live
Magpiebones
You can mulch them, and ticks will wander anywhere with enough moisture to sustain them.
EverNotRelevant
Hire some opossums? Jeez, do I have to solve EVERYTHING
Yasashii93
IKR. I don’t get why people are so obsessed about leaves.
My mother rakes them up every day during autumn. First of all, fuck that. Second of all: if you’re going to rake them up, why not wait a bit until at least most of the leaves have fallen off so that you don’t play Sisyphus every day?
XEtAl
We have trees that drop an absurd amount of leaves every year. Waiting until they all fall is not an option, and cutting down the trees is not up to me (not that I would want to cut them down if it was). Frankly, most of my issue is related to safety: living on a steep hill means slick surfaces are a hazard, and leaves + water + dirt + time = ice-like slipperiness if unattended. At the bare minimum I have to keep the sidewalks clear so someone doesn't fall on my property and sue.
Yasashii93
Oh, in those cases, yes, sure. Same thing as with snow and ice: as per the law (at least in my country) if somebody slips on the sidewalk that’s next to your property, you’re the responsible party.
What I meant was trees deep within your property that just drop leaves on the grass and dirt around them, nowhere near the road and the sidewalk.
ChallengerDeep
Giant piles of mud if you rake and leave them. Dead grass if you don't rake. Leaves are very efficient grass killers.
figuringeights
Maybe grass needs to die then
Schoctane
I don't mind grass when its used. But fucking no one hangs out in thier front yard. Total waste of fucking space imo. Basically just a toilet for the shithead neighbor's dog.
whatsisname
Grass fucking sucks and just being grass is often a very efficient grass killer.
toledontohinope
As a turf care professional I can 100% agree with you
MenloPart
I just mow them.
yeahhedugit
Mulching lawn mowers are great for that.
EverNotRelevant
Good for decomposition, bad for habitat. Did you know fireflies lay eggs on fallen leaves?
MenloPart
I'm 46 and don't believe I have ever seen fireflies.
EverNotRelevant
That's sad, man.
Foire
Haven't seen any local fireflies/lightning bugs since the mid-to-late 1990's before the majority of what forest my neighborhood had, was well into being cleared; summer nights with the yellow glow of a streetlight at the corner, mostly blocked out by the two large oaks' branches in the front lawn had provided the only opportunities I ever recognized, in MA.
Remember seeing a few just into the early 2000's in MD, but didn't see any over summertime down in SC / GA, back in 2021.
Miss'em a lot.