Do you have the leaf blowing Ninja's in your neighborhood?

You know the ones I'm talking about. EVERY single week since the leaves have begun to fall they are out there BLOWING... AGH! Doesn't anyone rake anymore? I'm SO sick and near deaf from all the noise. I can't enjoy one nice day outside.
Da*n lawnservice people. Doesn't anyone rake or maintain their own lawns? Is this a New Jersey 'thing'?
Then to add insult to *ear* injury, the Leaf Blowing Ninja's take all those leaves away. Not one house on my block has a leaf or twig on their lawn.

Except, mine! Today I mowed my lawn for the last time of the season. I've let all the leaves fall, go over with the lawn mower twice (killing two birds with one stone) take my muclched leaves and spread them around the beds. When I have left over leaves I put them in the compost bin. I do this only ONE TIME IN THE FALL! Not every single week.

Tell me, what is your neighborhood like I just might move there *grin*?

Ears still ringing- Kristi

Well, does a leaf vacuum/shredder count the same as a leaf blower? It's a little lower pitch than the whine of the blower (grin)

In my defense, we also own an arsenal of leaf rakes and even a sweeper attachment to go on the back of our lawn tractor. (Over an acre and lots of leafy trees = lots of ways to try to get them all raked up.)

This year's leaf drop is running way behind - probably 25% of the leaves are still on the trees. And with all the rain we've had, it really slows things up. We could still be raking at Christmas :(

No, the leaf vacumm doesn't count *lol* I guess my main gripe is against these darn lawn maint. companies. EVERY single week they have out their blowers. It's enough to go crazy.

We live in the country. Most people here chop theirs up with the lawn mower. We vacuum ours up, shred them and I use them for mulch. We do it once in the fall. A few neighbors leave theirs as is, don't think they've raked a leaf in years. Of course they don't mow their grass(what little grass they have) either. Lots of people in the city rake/blow theirs to the curb, the city picks them up and they compost them and sell the compost in the spring.

We have a mixture of blowers and rakers. In our neighborhood, we all get our leaves to the curb and the city truck comes by and vaccuums them up. I think they use it for compost for the city gardens. But I agree the 'whining' of the blowers can be annoying.

Out of curiosity to those who let the city pick up your leaves: why? Is there a reason you don't compost them yourself? I'm just being nosy, I guess. I buy my fair share of bagged mulch, chipped bark, mushroom compost and other "stuff" to try to loosen up this clay soil, but that's in addition to having a two-bin compost system, composting all my leaves, (and any of the neighbors' leaves that I can beg, borrow or steal...)

Since I can't ever have enough organic matter, I've always wondered why others don't keep their leaves. I can understand for those who have patio-sized lawns. But anything big enough to hold a tree seems large enough for composting in some form or fashion...(there's my bias showing :)

So tell me - why let the city haul off those leaves????

go_vols I agree with you. I only have one tree that loses it's leaves so I steal the neighbor's leaves for my compost. I live in a mobile home park so the lawns are tiny. What I can't stand are the lawn guys who zoom around with those huge mowers. they're so noisy and to me it seems like overkill. It takes me about 10 minutes to mow my lawn. I would think trying to maneuver those huge mowers around a tiny lawn wouldn't be worth it.

I think alot of homeowners are into having a pristeen lawn. And they don't really garden, so they have no use for leaves/compost.

go_vols, to answer your question, I guess I don't keep the leaves because I don't know exactly what to do with them! I don't have alot of room to compost. Any suggestions?

oooooh ideas - yes! From easiest to hardest:

Easiest - run them over with the mower, pile them up and ignore them. Or put them in plastic leaf bags, poke a few holes for ventilation and toss them in an out-of-the-way corner. In a year or so, you'll have leaf mould. (I didn't say FASTEST, I said EASIEST :)

Next easiest and a little faster (if you have a spare garden bed, or want to carve out a new bed): try lasagna layering. Place newspapers on the grass (if your bed area hasn't been tilled yet);, pile on a couple inches of leaves, then some "greens" (kitchen scraps, a bit of dirt, blood meal, etc., some more leaves and "greens", and topped with leaves. Let it set six months to a year and your bed will be ready for flowers or plants.

More effort: Take some chicken wire, form it into a large-ish circle and stake it with a piece of rebar or a fence "T" post to hold it together. This works really well in smaller spaces. Pile in the leaves, maybe some "greens" - kitchen scraps; or a bit of dirt, or sprinkle on some blood meal. Let it set for the winter. Next spring, pull apart the pile, toss it a bit, and restack it. By the time summer gets going good, your compost should be ready to start using, at least toward the middle and lower half of the stack. You can also do this with a large trashcan with a lid, but you'll want some holes unless you like the shocking aroma of anaerobic activity.

Most effort: Build a permanent compost bin of some sort - it can be rigged together from pallets (free for the asking) and you'll have a permanent place for your compost pile. Or purchase a rolling-type composter, which is supposed to make compost in six weeks (during warm weather.)

A few other options:

1. use your chopped up leaves as a mulch. Warning using them in their uncomposted state, they will temporarily affect your soil's nitrogen content, and perhaps your pH (depending on the type of leaves.) Don't use around hostas or other plants that slugs like - the mulch gives them way too cozy of an environment.

2. venture into vermicomposting (worm bin) and use your mulched leaves as the "top dressing" after you toss in your kitchen scraps.

3. In the summer, make a fertilizer tea with those leaves. Good for your garden, a little rough on the olfactory :)

Ducking here................whoooooooooosh!! DH rakes the lawn, but he uses a blower for the walks and driveway.

"eyes"

GUILTY!!! We do have a blower. We blow and rake and burn. The ashes go on the flower bed but then I also throw a bunch in the compost. I LOVE leaves!

OK, Go_Vols, that leaf composting info needs to go in the available archives somewhere. It's just too good to get lost in a thread. What can we do about that?

Thanx go_vols, it looks like I would have to do the bag thing. I REALLY don't have anyplace that is out of site to have a compost pile or bin. I have been thinking of looking into vermicomposting. that can be done in a basement right? Also, I don't presently have any easy way of shredding my leaves. I'll beg some from somebody at work.
Weez is right about putting this great info into the archives!
Thanx!

Well, I think most of it is in Gardening Terms. But if you'd like, I can copy it into a new thread, and invite others to come up with their best ideas for composting or other uses of all those leaves :)

Sounds good, Go_Vols. Then we can archive it on the Frequently Asked Questions forum. Isn't "Cut & Paste" wonderful!

We have a "leaf blowing Maniac" living behind us and he is out at daybreak every day. He gets on his garage roof(he is 70 yrs old) and blows all leaves off roof and gutter to the ground then blows every thing from the yard into his neighbors yard- and she's 90 years old!!When she asked him to bag the stuff instead he threatened her with a shovel! I told her to stay away from him and my husband would vac. the leaves and put them in our compost pile. WHAT A NUT!!!Does anyone remember the Steven King short story "Lawnmower Man"? Kinda gives me the creeps!

Must be an old age thing. There is a man that lives across the road and I'm thinking he's about 84. He starts blowing leaves about daybreak and goes all day long. It's as if a leaf falls in his yard, he's on it. I've never figured out what he does with all of them though. I've never seen or smelled smoke that he's burning and he has at least 10 acres so not sure where the leaves are going.

I love leaves, just the crunch when you walk I think is wonderful.
The leaves in the front yard that come from all the neighbors trees I do rake from the gutters and walkways and give to the city to compost because I'm afraid to use them as the city comes by once a year and sprays something on all the trees for insects :(
All the fruit trees leaves in my backyard I use. I put some in my compost bin but mostly I just dump in my veggie planters after I remove old tomatoes plants, etc. I just dump in the leaves and spread chicken manure on top. In the spring I dig in any leaves that are still large and wait another month and then plant more veggies. This is a really lazy way of composting, but it has been working several years.

We had the two neighbors out leaf blowing at 8 a.m. yesterday it continued all day. Now today I'll have the lawn guys all day as well. Hopefully this will be the last week of all this horrible noise.

>>>>>Da*n lawnservice people. Doesn't anyone rake or maintain their own lawns?

*not too many Kristi, that is why we are in business, and just doing what is asked of us by customers. ;-) I guess my husband is one of the living "darned".

Don't rake or blow ourselves. We have good old mother nature to take care of that. Wednesdays wind was south at 15 to 20 MPH, that put all leaves in the grove. Friday NW at 30 to 40 cleaned anything that didn't move Wed. Same with mowing, we have been on this place 20 years, never raked grass clipings or fertilized our yard, just mow about 3" high.
Grass thrives this way, stays nice even through a dry spell. Don't water grass either. Oh, also absoulutly no spraying for weeds. ( Healthy grass keeps weeds from growing!)
Bernie

I'm right there with you on the leaf blowin' ninjas. ARGHHHH! They're hard on everyone's ears--could make a fortune buying stock of hearing aid manufacturers! Ordinances are going in all over in FL to limit the noise levels and times they can be used. Ah, the sound of silence...

We get a little free newspaper here once a week. A fellow writes a column in it. His name is Al Batt. (Real name). His hobby is bird watching. I saw him at a bird & garden seminar 2 years ago, a very good speaker. Anyway he sort of bends things once in a while. In his column last week he talked about helping his wife, the Queen B, decorate their tree. He said she likes to put tinsel on one piece at a time. He figured there should be a better way. He put the tinsel & some ornaments in a pile in the middle of the living room. Then he hit with the LEAFBLOWER! The tree was decorated in record time!
Bernie

Oh, what a hoot! Of course, I'm sure that everything in a 10 foot radius was tinseled, as well. I'm sure the Queen Bee will spend lots of time cleaning it out of every nook and cranny when the holiday is over!

Leaf blowing neighbors are not a problem by this time of year in most places. Guess we should start complaining about snow blower fanatics next!