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Cleaning Mulch in the Autumn
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Posted: May/20/2008 7:10 AM PST
Here's a silly question -- and an embarrassing confession: Confession: This is my first year using mulch. Although I have heard all the praise about it -- my #1 concern was keeping it clean. I avoided it all the time because of this. Question: So -- HOW do you keep it clean without it being a huge hassel? We live in a very wooded area with LOADS of maples. The after autumn clean-up is a nightmare... This year I started composting, but only with a small trashcan/bin. The rest were bagged up (and I mean -- OVER 100 huge oil drum sized bags) I rake and bag first, then when there is a just a small layer left, hubby blows them and we bag them. I can't see a way around getting the leaves out of the mulch... I figure that the mulch will end up getting collected in the autum with all the leaves. Seems like a waste of mulch and also additional work and stuff to bag. I opted for pine straw mulch as it does look natural and we have a lot of acid loving plants (rhododendron, azalea, foxglove, etc). Is there something I'm missing here? Or is extra clean up just the way it goes with mulching? |
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Posted: May/20/2008 8:56 AM PST
I'll make a confession in order to answer your question. I don't do clean up! I use all the leaves as extra mulch. With the number of leaves you have to deal with, I would run them over with the mower first to make them smaller, use all that you can, then put the rest back into the woods in a nice pile- you'll be able to use it in the following years as compost. |
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Posted: May/20/2008 9:00 AM PST
Well... issue one is we don't have a mower, lol... we don't jhave a lawn of any kind and no one in this neighborhood does... Issue 2 is that although our lot is wooded -- its very small and there actaully isn't any out of the way wodded area to make a large compost pile.. I wanted to compost though, that's why I decided to use the trashcan as a compost bin. What might work instead -- is if we just blow the majority of leaves and leave whatever happens to get left behind. We can blow out the driveways and walkways and clear out what we can -- and maybe do just what you said and leave some over the pine straw as additional mulch. |
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Posted: May/20/2008 9:17 AM PST
How about growing some shady groundcovers and plants and let them cover the soil instead? Are there some native plants that will do well under your trees? |
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Posted: May/20/2008 9:45 AM PST
I use pine straw too and it can be daunting trying to get the leaves off during spring clean-up. What I do is get the majority off, the ones that really pile up high. The pine straw will have broken down during the winter months anyway, so I leave what I don't get off and re-straw right over it. Pine straw doesn't last but one season if you're lucky. It seems that I can't ever have enough of it! |
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Posted: May/24/2008 10:01 PM PST
Sweet ~ I'm working on getting some groundcover in place... something tough -- that might die back a little in the winter so that I can do a decent rake job in the early spring and have it pop right back up... Witt -- That's also good to know -- and it likely what I'll end up doing under the trees... just raking most of it aaway and laying down more straw. Thankfully, we don't have a HUGE lot and pine straw is reasonably priced 
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Posted: May/26/2008 5:10 AM PST
April you don't really need a special place for a large compost pile made up of leaves. They decompose very slowly and don't make a bad smell or attract unwanted vermin. You can simply make a big pile in the Fall and turn them in the Spring. Turn them again two or three times during the Summer and they are ready to use at the end of the season. Your leaf pile is also a great place to dispose of yard waste, which fills up a barrel composter in a mighty big hurry. |
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