We get windstorms here with sustained winds of 90 MPH gusting to 140 or so and I don't do anything special. The garden is in the corner, which helps, but I've never really covered the leaves with anything. If you water them, they'll be heavier and less likely to blow away, or you could cover them with something porous like burlap anchored wiht brocks at the corners or something like that.

How simple! I never thought of just keeping them watered! And if I mow the piles again to small pieces I think they wouldn't blow around as easily. Thank you!!!!

You must be at a pretty high elevation to get that kind of wind!

Westy

1. What sort of leaves do you have - just curious, plus a ton of OAK leaves may have a matting problem as they do not break down easily.

2. Yes, Westy, if leaves are SHREDDED they blow a lot less (and mat less as your mulch) - the wind can really pick up the edge of a "whole" leaf a lot easier than a tiny shredded piece. Mowing can shred - can be a challenge to contain the leaves as you mow them. Many posts here about shredding you can look at. Do you have access to a shredder such as a leaf vacuum that shreds? Maybe since DH likes the leaves cleaned up he would be okay with getting a handheld vacuum/shredder that collects the shredded leaves into an attached bag. Easier to do if leaves are dry and in a pile.

3. Using OTHER people's bagged leaves to make mulch is technically better for YOUR lawn ( I am assuming you have a lawn of grass with DH loving golf) since your lawn will benefit from your OWN leaves getting mulched into the lawn with a mulching mower. If DH is a "lawn guy" who works on the lawn, have him read up on that. Saves a lot of time with the raking and bagging,too.

4. Leaves store pretty well, especially if bagged, if you have a place for them. Even if they get wet, they don't really get smelly. So if you or a nearby person has an area you can stick a few bags of leaves over the winter, it sure is nice to have some in the spring to mulch the gardens.

5. I believe that the compost forum is the same as the mulch forum. Welcome and let me just say that stuff I have learned here has made my perennials HUGE and less weedy and reduced my need to supplement water. Big time!

I have one place where the winds do tend to blow even the shredded leaves off the garden bed and that is between the house and detached garage where the wind is funneled. Right now on the north side of the garage is a large pile of whole leaves (spring cleanup stuff from a neighbor) and even though we have had a couple of storms with whole gale winds (over 50 mph) those leaves are still there waiting patiently for me to shred them.

I like to shred them before mulching with them. Occasionally I mulch with whole leaves by tossing a little compost on top to hold them in place. An excellent use for fallen leaves is just to mulch mow them into the lawn. By Spring they have decomposed and the lawn benefits significantly by a free and easy compost application.
Bill Hill

"You must be at a pretty high elevation to get that kind of wind! "

It's not so much the elevation as a canyon to the east. A high will pass over the mountains and settle on the east side. Then it'll all rush in through any available spot. Like the canyon to the east. At least that's the explanation that was given to me.

shredding will really help and he will not notice the ones that blow out then I really dont have two many blowing around whole but then don't care if they do(:

Worst thing that happens is you mow and they disapear

My DH vacuums up our leaves each Fall; I put them in which ever bed needs them and cover with used coffee grounds from Starbucks. Come Spring the leaves have composted. I live where there is no snow but we do have wind...I have no problem with the shredded leaves covered with ucg blowing about.

Peggy

Well you've probably figured out by now that you came to the right place! :-) This is the soil compost AND mulch forum!

Very interesting. Where have I been? Mustardseeds: No oaks (which I miss so much - had dozens in our yard in Minneapolis). I believe what we have here is basswood (yuk), and apple trees. Oh, and honey locust. No elms, no larch, no birch. Lots of pines whose needles are great mulch. I only wish I knew how to shred the pinecones....but that shredder vacuum referred to - I'll look for that. Didn't realize there was such a thing. DH mows with a 'leaf catcher' attached and then bags them. I'm going to show him these posts. Also, never thought about coffee grounds over the leaves....I'll need a dumptruck full so I need to get over to Starbucks and start a pile! I have a compost bin and haven't put ucg in there and know I should. And I see the benefit of 'other people's leaves'....I guess I go begging for yard waste! Mulch and compost are my favorite subjects!!! I'm learning tons. Like I said, where have I been?

Westy

You can get a leaf blower that can be reversed and turned into a leaf vacuum/shredder. It comes with a bag that the shredded leaves are blown into.

Last fall I blew the leaves to the CP, reversed the action, left off the bag, vacuumed up whole leaves and shot them onto the CP. No wrestling with the bag every time it got full (I had a mountain of leaves), no trundling across the yard with the bag. I don't remember what brand mine is, and it's been loaned out to sister's kids for their yard maintenance job (which means I'll probably be buying another new one this fall).

You don't have to beg for other people's leaves. People like your husband will bag them up and leave them on the curb for whoever wants them.

Randy coyote: do you think the shredder you are referring to would shred small pinecones? (Austrian and Scotch Pine). They're about two inches MAX and some fall before they are totally mature so they are hard and pods not open. We rake those up and throw them away too which seems like a sin. I don't think they'd break down in the compost bin very well unless I could shred them first. I'll never live with pinecone-dropping trees again in my life!!!! All I do is pick up pinecones...out of the hosta beds (where they perforate them) and off the lawn where they get walked on and pushed into the soil so grass is killed unless they are picked up.

Westy

PS Thanks everyone....again!

Westy, I got a Toro leaf blower/vac on Amazon. Can't remember the model but do know it has a METAL shredder in it, not the plastic shredder.

Not sure it would handle small "green" cones but it is ok with small twigs. Really small.

I agree with penny, I don't think I'd try to shred a pine cone with mine. I take care of my neighbor's yard and she has a magnolia tree, damn thing is always dropping seed pods. A few have found there way into my CP, and they do break down ... ssslllooowwwlllyyy. I would think a pinecone would compost just as well, given time.

Thanks Randy - I didn't think it'd work. I wish they were valuable - if I could sell them for a buck each, I'd be rich.

Westy

I have a Toro leaf blower/vacuum. Shreds nicely for dry brown leaves, but freshly fallen autums leaves or wet leaves do not shred as well, they mainly get vacuumed up and partially broken. My pinecones are about 1.5 inches (daughter calls them the "baby cones") and we get plenty. I rake them out of my garden beds and lawn into a pile on the lawn. Then I use the leaf vacuum and suck them up. They chop up into a fine reddish brown mulch. Even applied in spring, these shredded cones have not led to any pine tree sprouts. The mulch smells nice if you like the smell of pine. WARNING - very dusty job. The bag that collects the shredded material will send out dust from the shredded pine cones, more than the dust from leaves. If there is a medium wind, I do it standing upwind of the bag so that the dust blows away from me. The earthworms LOVE the beds I have applied the pinecone mulch.

Westy,
I used to hate the pine cones too, but then I thought of a good use for them. I use them in the bottom of all of my containers to help with drainage. Works great! Eventually they will crumble and break apart, but because they are moist, it's not hard on the hands to just crumble them up and toss them in my mulch.(I do this when I clean out my containers in the fall.)

Picking them up is still a chore, but now that I have a need for them, I don't mind it so much!
Jean

Wow this is too easy. Is this a trick question? Seriously take the grass clipping DH bags up and dump them on top of the leafs. You can mix in some in, and pour some on top, in spring mix it all together once a week.

Large in-tact leaves do have a tendency to blow around. But if they are wet and/or shredded, they stay put.

I shred my oak leaves with the lawn mower. IMO, from a distance, no one could tell the appearance of shredded leaf mulch apart from shredded bark or wood mulch.

I have tons of oak trees, and subsequently tons of oak leaves, and subsequently a nice supply of fresh mulch every fall.