Like I’m not even an expert but I coulda told you that nature already knows what to do with the leaves (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/to-rake-or-not-to-rake-expert-tips-for-eco-friendly-autumnal-lawn-care). This isn’t just conservatives, who usually do the yard work themselves, but liberals too. Except the libs hire immigrants to do landscaping, rake the leaves, and then leave them in bags for trash guys to pick them up where they’ll go to a landfill or be burned or whatever.
the only acceptable leaf raking is when they’re on a footpath because when they get wet they’re a slip hazard
but then you just rake them onto the grass, it’s free compostNO! WE MUST GET RID OF THE NATURAL LAWN FERTILIZERS! ONLY SYNTHETIC FERTILIZERS!
I will NOT rake the leaves
I will NOT turn the river rocks
I will NOT let the cats out in the open
gonna teach my outdoor cat how to rake leaves with river rocks
The sound of a leafblower makes me wanna go nuclear
Oh my god if I were given any level of political power literally the first thing I’d do is ban gas leaf blowers. Electric ones are on thin ice.
For thousands of years we’ve had a device to remove dirt and leaves from paths, it’s called a BROOM. They’ve played us for absolute fools.
california has already passed a ban on them (for 2024). those little two-strokes are extremely dirty, it’s not like they’ve got a catalytic converter or anything
Ah, the sound of the changing seasons, as the interminable BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR of lawnmowers becomes the interminable BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR of leafblowers
Who wanted to hear the wind or the birds anyway?
I do it because the landlord tells me I have to do it. :/
Because a lot of Americans have internalised the utterly absurd American dream without question which involves, having a lawn, mowing lawn, raking lawn, shooting people on the lawn, white picket fence, passive aggressively saying hello to your neighbour, live in a suburb, eat macs famous mac and cheese, repeat
supposedly leaving them on grass can kill the grass or something. sounds like that’s a myth but it can inhibit growth later or something.
kill the grass
An I the only person that owns a mulching mower? Don’t rake, just mow that shit and let the shredded leaf corpses feed the lawn.
So apparently a lot of animals use the leaves as cover during the winter, so mowing it may kill all those animals.
A thick layer of leaves may not look like much, especially when the color is drained to a dull brown. But chances are it’s actually teeming with wildlife.
As temperatures drop, fallen leaves and the soil underneath offer crucial habitat for all kinds of creatures, including salamanders, frogs and rodents. Shepherd noted that this shelter is especially important for the smallest animals, mainly insects and other invertebrates. That list includes cocooned moths and bumblebee queens, as well as those that might be less eye-catching to humans.
Data suggests that one square meter of leaf litter could house between 40,000 to 50,000 springtails, tiny arthropods that are easy to overlook but important to ecosystems. Trashing leaves takes away an important source of protection for these and other critters in the colder months.
Good to know. Thanks.
mainly insects
Absolutely not.
That’s not you, that’s the bugs talking.
the most i do is pile them up a bit and compost them with a mower just to speed up decomp and keep my “lawn” from being too covered up. lately i’ve been collecting the mulch i make from them to add to my hugelkultur mound
I’ve had my city twice leave notices of failure to follow city code because of my “lawn”.
I mow, but not very short. I have a pile where I put sticks and brush that is large or could hurt someone. I have a corner of my backyard dedicated to native species and pollinators. My neighbors fucking hate it, but I also don’t care for their opinions on it.
I have never raked my yard, and that will not be changing. It’s currently completely buried under leaves, as it should be this time of year.
Fuck the lawn idea, allow your yard to be natural plz
I just fuckin push the leaves into the bushes when I do it. My family goes nuts picking up every single leaf like they’re trying to win some leaf-picking-up competition. They won’t listen to me
I like to rake together a little pile of leaves to jump in.
I was always told that if it snows on leaf cover it’ll rot and smell reallt bad when the snow melts
I only rake my black walnut trees’ leaves, if I don’t it turns the area into Mordor and makes my clover suffer due to the herbicide nature of the leaves. All the other trees I let them do their thing.
Piles of leaves make great insulation for your perennials and you can mulch them in the spring to put the nutrients back into your garden bed. They are a gift from nature.
