Raking: Do U Do It?

I'm really torn. I don't want to rake or even leaf-blow my leaves around.

but I feel like I should. But I don't wanna.


My yard guy says 120.00 to 150.00 to do fall clean up and if I don't then my lawn won't grow come spring.

I say if the grass doesn't grow then I won't have to mow it next spring, right? And I've lived here 10 years and the grass always grows just fine come nice weather.


Do you rake up your leaves and do a "Fall Clean-Up"?

Nope. We just give the lawn one last mow to mulch the leaves. I will do one little thing this year tho...Im gonna do major surgery on the smoke bush that grew like a crazy nut job this summer. Im gonna have to re-plant it somewhere else in the spring.

I'm trying to convince my son to do ours for $20. If he doesn't this weekend, then I will. I mow my leaves weekly while they are still not so heavy. Once they get really heavy, I just rake them to the curb. County sucks them up with a vacuum truck.

It really depends on how many trees you have.

I do. But it sucks.

Apartment. A bunch of Mexicans show up ever week and do up the lawn like a golf green.

glatt;693419 wrote:

I'm trying to convince my son to do ours for $20. If he doesn't this weekend, then I will. I mow my leaves weekly while they are still not so heavy. Once they get really heavy, I just rake them to the curb. County sucks them up with a vacuum truck.

It really depends on how many trees you have.

Beware, coming to a neighborhood near you...

Portland (OR) has just instituted a new fee for home owners to cover the city's leaf pickups.
Avoiding the fee may be possible via receipts for licensed landscapers, etc.
but it is making for a lot of angry homeowners.

We never did when I was growing up in PA and we didn't have problems with the grass not growing because of it. Of course he is going to say that, he wants you to pay him to clean.

wolf;693422 wrote:

Apartment. A bunch of Mexicans show up ever week and do up the lawn like a golf green.

I hope you're checking green cards :D

It's true that clumped and matted down leaves; or, grass cuttings can keep sunlight from reaching the lawn in spots so the grass underneath won't grow. Simply breaking up the clumps with a rake will enable the wind to move leaves and grass cuttings around to avoid dead spots without having to pick up the debris and dispose of it.

I use the lawn mower to mulch leaves while cutting the grass. I first mow the perimeter of the yard, with the cuttings being blown towards the middle, and work towards the center. All the previous cuttings get chopped up a little finer each time I pass over them again while making new cuttings. I then use the mower to scatter the debris pile accumulated in the center of the yard out towards the perimeter until the material blends in with the grass.

I only rake up the leaves and grass cuttings that drift into piles against the house and edges of the driveway. I don't want decomposition piles forming against the house; or, making a mess when I later use the snow blower on the driveway.

The lord giveth, the lord taketh away.

Bri, As soon as the leaves are dry just mow over them like Pico says. It will be good for the lawn.

I mow/mulch early in the season, then I rake (I did it Monday). I love the raking -great workout, visible results and good for the bod (maintain core strength position -Kegel brace- and always bend knees when lifting, alternate raking sides....)

I had the dead branches of trees on my property lopped last week so that another one won't fall on my house anytime soon. Also I can feel virtuous about cleaning up in time for bushfire season. Got the invoice today-was expecting that the terms of payment would be 14 or 21 days, but no, the invoice says terms of payment: NOW.

In 21 days, it will still be NOW.

glatt;693591 wrote:

In 21 days, it will still be NOW.

The Zen of Remittance.

I have a mulching mower - best thing I ever had for the lawn. Mulch everything in and let it compost down. We cleaned up the studio yard this past weekend, and I was suprised how well the mower mulched down the massive amounts of leaves there (of course, I had to go over it twice). At home, we have a leaf compost pile that yields up the greatest soil ever, plus the worms that get into it enrich it even more with their poop.

My kids raked the front yard yesterday. Awesome. Although the trees still have lots of leaves on them, so it will need to be done again. I gave them $5 to split.

glatt;693600 wrote:

My kids raked the front yard yesterday. Awesome. Although the trees still have lots of leaves on them, so it will need to be done again. I gave them $5 to split.

If I cover their car fare can you send em up here to work on my yard?

We vacuum 'em up with a leaf blower/shredder and dump the shredded leaves on the veggie garden. At least till we get tired of doing it, then just mow 'em over.

But then, we don't live in a tidy manicured neighborhood - we're kind of out in the sticks so it doesn't matter so much, and 1.5 acres is a lot of land to rake. :D

We have a particular type of tree in our yard (a number of them) that shed leaves or flowers or seed pods at different times of the year. They're great for shade in the summer, and because they've got no leaves in winter, it makes the area they cover a bit warmer because they let the sun in, but the shedding shits me off. It's a poinsiana. I'm thinking about pulling them out, but it'll be a huge job. They're quite large.

As to raking. Yes I do it, mainly because these stupid trees shed over our concreted areas which we like to use for things like BBQ'ing and so on. I wouldn't if we didn't use the area though. Grass doesn't usually grow well under these trees anyway because the foliage is too dense in summer, and in winter there's too much crap on the ground from the leaves and old twigs.

I like it when the Aussies say 'shits me off'

that sounds worse than being pissed off

agreed.

getting shit on yourself is, I think, 7 times worse than getting piss on yourself.

glatt;693591 wrote:

In 21 days, it will still be NOW.

:)

Leaf blow. The yard is too big to rake. Been the 6th time I blew leaves back into the woods where they belong. Oak trees are a pain in the ass.

Aliantha;693650 wrote:

We have a particular type of tree in our yard (a number of them) that shed leaves or flowers or seed pods at different times of the year. They're great for shade in the summer, and because they've got no leaves in winter, it makes the area they cover a bit warmer because they let the sun in, but the shedding shits me off. It's a poinsiana. I'm thinking about pulling them out, but it'll be a huge job. They're quite large.

I like those.

Getgo;693735 wrote:

Leaf blow. The yard is too big to rake. Been the 6th time I blew leaves back into the woods where they belong. Oak trees are a pain in the ass.

Oak leaves are the most treacherous mtn biking as well. The have a large very smooth surface area. Your tire's foot-print can be fully contained on one leaf making for some dicey situations if you brake.

Sycamores too.

What's he have to do with it?

well he had a dicey break situation recently too

clever you...!

Griff;693766 wrote:

Oak leaves are the most treacherous mtn biking as well. The have a large very smooth surface area. Your tire's foot-print can be fully contained on one leaf making for some dicey situations if you brake.

Non-shedding trees are best.

There's no such thing.

xoxoxoBruce;693742 wrote:

I like those.

I like them too, but much more when they're in someone else's yard...or a park. :)

xoxoxoBruce;693937 wrote:

There's no such thing.

I know. Dreams aren't real. lol