To top it all off... When we blow the leaves, we blow them across the road because there is a big field right across the road. Well, yesterday I decided to go grab some more leaves before they got taken up by the park manager or waste management. I would suck the leaves back up with my blower, dump them back out when it was full, suck them back up again (which shreds them even finer) and then fill the leaf bags. My neighbors all must have thought I was crazy! A lot of people around here don't understand the value of their fall leaves. They just blow them all out on the road and forget about them. I must have looked like a crazy woman yesterday as I stood there sucking back up the leaves from across the street that were just blown across the street, dumping them back out again and sucking them back up! lol
I don't really care what they think, because next year when my garden is flourishing with the help of some leaves, they'll all wonder how I did it! lol

How's this for crazy--my DH borrowed a dump truck from his work and traveled around town picking up people's bagged leaves that were left on the curbs for pickup by the town. Brought them home (hundred or so bags, no kidding), emptied them out of the bags, ran them over and over with the riding mower to a fine shred, then we spread them all on our gardens. The best mulch ever, the worms absolutely love it!

Wow! And I thought I had a lot of leaves! Too funny! My blower shredder does shred them up, but I'm wondering how much more I could get them shredded with the lawn mower? Hmmm, I might have to get out the mower! lolol

I've collected leaves from the side of the road. One thing I need to be careful of are the rocks, cans and bottles that they may include before I shred them.

Y'all sound *entirely* rational & reasonable & green to me!

On the Soil Compost & Mulch Forum there's always a "you might be a compost wacko" thread going, & your stories would fit in perfectly with the rest of us wackos, I mean dedicated conservationists, over there!

For some reason my leaf crop was a little short this year. After I'd cleaned the yard I still had beds that were lacking leaves. My neighbor across the street had tons of leaves so I proceeded to sweep up a third of his yard and place them into my beds.
People have long ago stopped wondering about me and the crazy things I do. I'm considered the eccentric one.
Regarding running over the leaves to shred them;
You'll reach a point where doing it one more time will chop them so small they'll all but disappear into the grass so don't try to shred them too small. In spring when I clean excess leaves from the beds that's how I get rid of them. The decomposing leaf litter aids the soil while adding a little fertilizer to the lawn. It doesn't hurt the grass either. Mine is thick and lush.

Bravo to you all of you: Last year my pile of leaves measured 50 by 50 by 10 feet high in mid summer I was in the wooded areas looking for and getting even more. I ended up getting a yard sale cheapie mower (20$)to do the shreading. A second item trees can provide is wood ashes from fireplaces outside fire pits ect. Even wood pellet stoves has some left over ash.

I'm jealous. Leaf envy. Nothing better for the soil than ground up leaves.

I'm getting picky in my older age: I drive around the neighbourhood (I'm Canadian; ergo the spelling) picking up only those bags of leaves that have been through the lawn mower.
I have one neighbour whose leaves I asked for who decided she needed to save me from myself: she wouldn't give hers to me because she had heard that they might have fungus on them, and I shouldn't use them in my garden. She is quite unaware I have been using leaves like that for years and have one of the nicest yards in the area.
Steve.

Hi - Be careful where the leaves come from, if they contain weed-killer some of that stuff remains in the mulch and can damage the flowers, especially roses.... here in Fla. people use a lot of weed-killer on their lawns etc. sally