Trees and leaves

[RYH64E]

It's that time of the year again, the trees are moulting and there're bloody leaves everywhere, I've just spent 3 hours raking, sweeping and using a lawnmower to hoover them up, then put them in builders bags to take down the tip. I filled 6 bags today and past experience suggests that will be par for the course for the next 6 weeks. I've got a leaf blower but it doesn't really help, imo. How do others deal with the problem? There's got to be an easier way than this.

[RYH64E]

I've got four big Oaks and a Sweet Chestnut (plus sundry unidentifed small trees), there were 6 builders bags today and the Oaks have barely started, I need machinery!

Edited by RYH64E on Saturday 22 October 16:06

[RYH64E]

Jaguar steve said:

No you don't.

You need a 12 year old who hasn't had his pocket money yet, needs his bike fixing and who wants a lift to and from a mates sleep over tonight.

Sorted

What I've got is a sixteen year old who thinks that manual labour is beneath him, and when he does help is more of a hindrance. Machinery would be more reliable, do a better job, and almost certainly work out cheaper.

[RYH64E]

Simpo Two said:

In theory at least if you keep removing the leaves the soil will get poorer as nothing's being recycled.

If I don't remove the leaves there'll be no grass left by spring, the garden will be 6" deep in leaves. I use a mulching lawn mower throughout the growing season which puts a fair bit of nutrients back into the soil, though the recent scarifying had ripped pretty much any grohnd covering out, plus it's fertilised regularly.

[RYH64E]

Drive Blind said:

Mower to hoover up.
Empty into brown bin(s).
Put bin(s) out to be emptied.
Repeat weekly until no more leaves.

I filled 6 off 1m cubed builders bags today alone, and the leaves have only just started to fall, I'd need a dozen brown bins every week.

[RYH64E]

MX5_Nuts said:

Or one of these

That looks suitable, anyone used one?

[RYH64E]

paulw123 said:

burning leaves is pretty ignorant, they will smoulder for hours. Either compost or take the to the tip.

I tried burning leaves a few years ago, the smoke would have been visible miles away, it looked like I was laying down a smoke screen.

It's the sheer volume of leaves that's a problem, collecting them is a pain as is disposing of them. Fortunately I've got a works van and a tip round the corner from work, so I load them up on a Monday morning and borrow one of the lads from the warehouse at work to help me empty them into the big garden refuse bins. Luckily they still let vans in at our tip. I'm going to buy a lawn vacuum, will report back on its effectiveness.

[RYH64E]

powerstroke said:

Yes ask your gardener what the hell is going on!!! he will ask one of the under gardeners , you really should take more notice what the staff are doing.... Get a grip Man....

My gardener has just retired, scarifying my lawn was his last paid job.

One of the downsides of living in a small village is a complete lack of cheap, hard working eastern european immigrants, getting reliable help is a nightmare.

[RYH64E]

Boosted LS1 said:

fk me, they're just leaves. Thank Christ you weren't fighting in the trenches for us, lol. Man up and grow some balls. You'll be after a leaf blower next.

Just leaves, but a lot of them. Got a leaf blower, if they worked people would use them to clean their carpets, but they don't work so pepole use a hoover.

Bought one of these, will try it out on the weekend.

[RYH64E]

GetCarter said:

Live in a forest of evergreens. HTH

Have a massive Holm Oak as well, it's supposedly evergreen but the damn thing still drops it's leaves, just at less predictable intervals.

[RYH64E]

48Valves said:

Buy a mulching lawn mower.

I don't bother collecting leaves anymore. I now just set the mower to the highest setting and mulch them.

Job done.

Got one, it works well throughout the year but would be totally overwhelmed with the volume of leaves that fall every autumn.

[RYH64E]

S6PNJ said:

Out of interest, is your a mulch only or a combo? If mulch only, what do you have and do you recommend it? I'm looking for a mulch only mower.

Mulch only, it's a Husqvarna LB553S, seems to work well enough.

[RYH64E]

Tahiti said:

Leaves are one thing but it's the chestnuts and cases that are the pain to get up in my experience.

I am in my second year or being surrounded by trees and currently find it strangely therapeutic to do it all manually. It won't last.

I've got a Chestnut in the front garden, its only plus point (unless you like chestnuts) is that the leaves fall very quickly. For a few weeks the ground is covered with them, then they're gone. With the Oaks it's a more gradual process, they'll be falling from now till Christmas, and the trees aren't completely in phase so when one has finished another has barely started.

I bought a lawn vacuum thing, haven't made my mind up about it yet, it's good for fairly smallish numbers of leaves but big amounts overwhelm it. I think the answer is to start with a rake and finish with the vacuum. Another 6 builders bags of leaves for the tip today.