No wonder they call it "Fall"

Well, the annual deluge of leaves falling has begun in earnest around here. We have a little over an acre with three HUGE oak trees in the front yard, a row of dogwoods and maples along the side of the driveway, and I can't begin to count the trees in the backyard.

Now before everybody who lives on a treeless piece of land starts reaching for the tar and feathers, wait a minute - I'm not complaining; I love leaves! I've put all of those from the front yard trees in my soon-to-be daylily bed, along with a load of cow manure. The leaves from the backyard are being layered also - I'm making beds for an "open woods" wildflower garden in the back.

My neighbors have teased me, because I'm begging leaves from them, too. They look at our yard (everybody has this many trees around here), and exclaim - surely you have enough leaves in your OWN yard! To which I say: one can never have too many leaves or friends :)

How about everybody else - are your trees still holding onto their coverings, or are you experiencing "Fall", too?
Happy Fall, Ya'll!!!!

Hehehe, our's have been gone for awhile - may have been the snow!

Vols
I do the same thing I rake all of my leaves then go to the neighbors and get theirs.

I shred them for mulch and for the compost pile.

Oak leaves are one of the best we have mostly maples around here.

Paul

Our trees are being fairly stingy with their leaves. Although most have changed color, at least half the trees still have almost all their leaves.

The funny thing is: in our backyard we have 4 giant maples. The latter 3 have lost every single leaf, but the first one has not lost a single leaf yet. So, we have 3 bare maples and 1 full maple. It was also the first maple to change colors!

Our dogwoods are clinging to their red leaves, as are the crepe myrtles. Also, the Forsythia has not yet begun to turn - they are still as green today as they were in May.

As for me, I'm counting the days until the growing season begins - only 3 months to go!

Dave

Most leaves are gone - in the house/garden area - except for the pin oaks which lose their leaves in the spring...I compost some and add the rest to the mulch pile. I LOVE the leaves too. The forsythia has turned. I'm with Dave....counting the days til growing season starts. It will be here before you know it....:-) vic

"As for me, I'm counting the days until the growing season begins - only 3 months to go!"...HAH!!!!! Dave is hooked folks! He's HOOKED! And Vic is following suit!!!
As for me, I used to have a home-made rig on my riding mower that would shoot the leaves into a wagon that I pulled behind, then take them to the garden and dump them. Sure wish I still had it! Those leaves sure were a nice amendment to the gardens!

I just counted the days until our last frost date, which is when our growing season basically starts, since we can have blizzards in May here. I came up with 190 days. Oh, it's gonna be a long long winter.
Joan

Since I don't have any trees (other than Ficus..YUK) I take several plastics bags and my rake and head for the park. The people think she's a crazy lady until they ask what I'm doing. Then when I tell them they are for my garden, they understand. My DH doesn't understand that a couple of bags is NOT enough, but he's learning fast.

Donna

JoanJ: That's a funny choice of words: "A long long winter". Have you read the book "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder? It was set in the Dakotas (North Dakota, I think).

I think of that book whenever I see your posts. :)

Dave

With 2 oak trees, a mango, a red maple, and a lychee, the only one that will be leafless is the mango, if we have a hard winter that is.

Most leaves on the maple are still green, only a few started to show a tint of red or orange.

Fall in the evergreen redwoods...that is when the vivid red shows up in all its splendor, glowing in the autumn sun. The vibrant color contrasting like the colors of Christmas in the glorious Red against the green. The color winds up to the very tips of the trees and against the cool blue sky they stand out in a marvelous display....And I promise myself that by this time next year I really am going to get rid of that darn Poison oak That is choking the trees!

We have a maple that we just planted this year that is holding onto it's leaves too. My son-in-law is actually worried about it! LOL

Tomorrow I am going leaf collecting. I live in an area where the only trees are those planted around farm houses and the ones in town. Lots of big old trees in town! So I am going to town tomorrow to pay bills and get groceries, and I am not comming home with an empty truck, in fact I will put the wood hauling racks on the pickup so I can haul a big load, the first of many. They will be spread and rototilled into the garden, and some will go into compost piles. They are precious fertilizer that too often goes to the dump or gets burned as trash. People even help me load them sometimes they are so glad to get rid of them for free. I only take those that are already bagged, it saves a lot of work.

Zany, if you fnd a way to get rid of that pest, please pass it along. It's on every oak and elm I have, the only thing it won't cover being the equally invasive blueberry juniper. Even a hackberry isn't safe from it. I have used everything on it, only to kill back any competition and allow it to be more robust. It's not as fast growing as kudzu, but at least kudzu has pretty flowers.

I only have one large tree and it's an Elm so I don't have leaves to rake as the wind has already carried them away.

All my small trees have lost their leaves as well, since there is only open feilds around us the leaves don't stay.

Maybe one day I'll have leave to use again.

Hey Mike, If you would like some maples, E me in the spring. We have about five different types that pop up all over the place! I am constantly pulling them up. My neighbors have what I think is a silver and it seems to make the most babies. I have a large one in my front yard that gets great fall color. I posted it a couple of weeks ago. It drops a few babies too, but not like the neighbors. I will have a few golden rain trees too and who knows what else?? Anyway, if you want some, let me know.
The Trouble Maker :)

I JUST FINISHED SHREDDING ANOTHER 20 BAGS OF LEAVES I GOT FROM THE NEIGHBORS.

THIS MAKES LIKE 120 BAGS THIS FALL I THINK I'M ABOUT DONE.

PAUL

The leaves haven't finished falling here, so I'm still getting a chance to enjoy the beautiful color schemes.