tehehehehehe!!!

Maybe contact state and federal forestry divisions to seek protected natural habitant status. Could mean a mark on Rand McNally's map, state sign at the highway exit, tax deductions, etc etc!!

I miss the smell of burning leaves in the fall. Do you?

Oh my that is a lot of leaves!
I don't think a mower is going to cut it. I don't know what exaclty I would do either with all those leaves.

That is a whole lot of leaves. In the past, have they hauled them out at some point in the fall, or do they just leave them there to compost? I wonder how long it would take for a pile that high to decompose on its own.

I get a similar quantity of leaves. The key to mulch mowing a large amount of leaves is to mulch them at least weekly. The mulched early fallers will disappear while soil temperatures are above 50F.

I just completed my final mulching for the year. I'm draining the 30W oil in my tractor and will replace with 10W-30. The final steps are removing the mowing deck and mounting the snow blade.

Here's a picture of my tractor taken last November.

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The area directly behind the tractor is woods. There's not enough light for grass to grow. Here's a picture of my main lawn area.

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You can see from the shadows that it is surrounded by trees.

-Deerslayer

You have an absolutely beautiful lot Deerslayer your grass looks so perfect. I would love to have a big yard again. What is that flowering bush back on the left?

Strouper

Thanks, Strouper. I use organic fertilizer and don't broadcast herbicides. I use a Weed Hound to pull the few broad leaf weeds that invade.

The flowering bush is Bridal Wreath Spirea. Here's a link with more info.

Bridal Wreath Spirea

-Deerslayer

The trick to mulch mowing is to stay ahead of the leaves. Mow as often as you would normally mow your lawn in the beginning of Fall. You may have to mow more frequently as the leaves fall. It is less work than raking/bagging and will make for a great lawn.

Capt Tom

All winter I'm mowing & sprinkling too!
- frequently mow twice per week.
Very slow grass growth during winter,
but lots of leaves falling to mulch up.

Cearbhaill, mind a question? What have you done in past years? How has any grass under all that done?
If the picture doesn't show just how much layer is there, it could pose a problem if your grass is being deprived of oxygen and moisture.

What a wonderful picture....a lake in the background?
And a neighbor who also is not a speed-bunny about picking up leaves.
Methinks you are fighting a losing battle if next door they don't clean up either. But...what if.....what if they do clean up and you don't. Ever feel obligated to get them up?

Yours is a perfect example of a great amount of organic material going to waste if you don't take advantage.

I'd use one of those noise makers....even on a Sunday morning and blow them to where you can, at least, pick some of them up and bag them. They make for a wonderful leaf mold for later use the next summer. If you can burn them....do that....but use care. Do that in a closed container. A 55-gallon drum makes for a fine furnace...just cut out a 6 by 6 inch piece at the bottom side and let air make it all fire and no smoke.
keep a lawn hose handy in case the drum gets too hot and wind takes embers out and away. And follow proper fire regulations of your community.....at least, have the drum at least 50 feet away from any habitated building.

I love the smell of burning leaves in the fall.

This is my first few months in this home- there hasn't been a lawn here for years I don't believe.

I'm not the least concerned with what that neighbor does with his leaves- I just thought it amazing, that's all.
As for us- we either compost them or use them as mulch. I would never burn them.

My thought was if either you or your neighbour doesn't pick up the leaves, one or the other is going to get them anyway,
depending on just how the wind blows.

For the amount of leaves pictured, your composting effort is, I'm sure, providing lots of food for it.
Just in case though you don't get all of it taken care of, bagging and keeping for leaf mold might even interest a neighbor. Put it out at roadside, put a sign saying free leaf mold, I guarantee its gone that day. Maybe asking for more.

Those are a lot of leaves... It kind of reminds me of my backyard! I got tired of raking, mulch-mowing, using the blower, etc... I now have a Billy Goat outdoor Vaccum:-) No leave stands in my way:-) I do mulch-mow at the beginning of fall, but then after a couple of weeks, it's impossible to keep up with them. They fall faster than mowing TWICE per week - no joke. I have a dedicated natural area where I dump all the leaves.

Deerslayer, I like your backyard very much, but the grass is not dark green like is supposed to... Is it KBG or Fescue?

Auteck, the grass is KBG, Rye, and Fescue. It's a common mixture in Northern Illinois. The color may not be 100% accurate in the photo or on your display. I agree that elite varieties of KBG are noticeably darker.

-Deerslayer

Deerslayer's lawn is a healthy, "organic green". Organically grown lawns generally do not get the deep green color of lawns exclusively fed with chemicals. Well, this is what I've noticed over the years. Just anecdotal.

I think Deerslayer's lawn is an extremely healthy looking lawn. About as good as it gets IMHO.

Cear: Man, that is ALOT OF LEAVES!!!

I disagree with the comment that organic lawns are not as green. The two houses right across the street from me only fertilize with composted chicken manure (a product like Cockadoodle Doo), and their lawns are consistently green, greener than 90% of the people in the neighborhood who have regular chemical applications. The one guy is weed free, and the other is weed-filled, but both are really green. I can't quite tell why one guy is weed free and the other has a bunch of them despite using the same organic landscaper.

I can't call myself 100% organic yet, as I cheated a bit this year, but I am already seeing some nice results from a few applications of organic fertilizers, compost, compost tea, and mulch mowing both leaves and grass. My one neighbor, who has a SWEET chemically treated lawn, is already going dormant, while my lawn is still going strong.

+1 rutgers1, at least on KBG lawns. Since turning to organics, my lawn has darkened. The new lawn is a deep, verdant, wonderful green.

Strangely, it's eighteen degrees here this morning and we had snow yesterday. The lawn is still not dormant, although the color is lightening a bit as winter deepens.

My lawn isn't as green as it was when it was at its greenest in the spring and mid-fall, but it is still quite green, especially from far away. When I round the corner and head towards the house, it actually looks abnormally green relative to other peoples' lawns.

Has anyone ever read any figures regarding timing of dormancy between sandy, clay and loam soils? I ask because our neighborhood as a whole (which is sandy) is pretty green, yet many homes went dormant very early in the summer. I am wondering if sandy soils are good or perhaps better at this time of the year.

I haven't done much research on organic fertilizer, but I do know that they stop working when the weather gets cold. I used Milorganite in July last summer with good results, but temparatures were warm. The grass was dark green at the beginning of the summer, then faded as the season went on. This past summer I used Scotts 26-2-13 formula with 2% iron in June with great results. Again, the dark green color faded as the season went on.

I mostly use Scotts or Lesco fertilizer because they work even during cold weather.

Here's a picture of my Elite 100% KBG lawn in Raleigh last year in late Fall:

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My neighbor's Cavalier zoysia is fully dormant as you can see.

I just noticed the dead Frasier Fir by the curb... So the picture was probably taken right after x-mas, or at the beginning of the new year.

cearbhaill; I don't get it. Are you talking about your neighbor's yard or your yard? Yes, your neighbor has a problem, but yours doesn't look too bad. Run the mulching mower over/through YOUR leaves, then go back over it with the bag on. You'll clean it up fairly nicely and reduce the amount of leaf debris in the bag by 75%.