dieselscout80
Veteran Member
Grass clippings and cardboard.
I gather them in the Fall, and usually a couple good rains and most stay in place in the pile. Last Fall we had a dry spell and some high winds, so I set a lawn sprinkler on top of the pile for an hour or so. That's the first time I had to so that in the 10-12 years I've been doing it. You'll lose a few, but not many. Fall rains here settle them down. Come Spring they are pretty damp and stay in place. Again you may lose a few, but not enough to notice. A couple good soaking rains mats them down, and pretty well locks them together. The key is to put them down 4" to 6" deep. Makes it nice after summer rains when tomatoes are needing sprayed, or ripe, and you can walk on the mat without sinking to your ankles in mud.How do you keep the leaves from blowing away?
I would say the racoons are what took took the jug^^^^^
I had an unopened jug of the organic Preen in my shed. The squirrels or raccoons loved it, I found the empty container about 100 yards away with a hole chewed through it.
This is also what I do. The first time I gardened in this area I would lay out 2-3in thick layer of leaves and mulch them with my lawn mower. I did this over and over until I got a 4in thick layer of mulched up leaves. The following year I started raised beds and the walkway soil got put into the beds. Cardboard and wood chips in the pathways now. After about 2yrs the walkway soil can be put into the beds.Probably won't help for this year, but I use leaves 4"-5" thick as a mulch. Great for weed suppression, and by next year will be broken down into compost to turn under and build organic matter. Retains moisture, yet sheds heavy rains. Redworms and nightcrawlers will feed on them over the summer providing a constant supply worm castings for a great organic fertilizer.
I bought a near new leaf vac at a consignment auction for $140.00, and use it to gather the neighbors leaves, plus have a neighbor who runs a lawn service who picks up leaves in the Fall. I used to get 8-10, 18' tandem trailer w/6' sides, until his wife saw how well it works, and now she gets the majority of them.
Some small towns used to do leaf pickup, some still do. Some use a hay baler, and some just use a Vacon a dump truck, and dump at their facility, and some will haul to farm fields, or someplace close to get rid of them. Just have to really watch when getting from an intown source for syringes in the leaves.