Fall means raking leaves

While we were up at the North Shore, I was mesmerized by the beauty of the foliage along Highway 61. Then, after reality set in, I was reminded that most homeowners curse Fall, for it brings the dreaded task of raking leaves.

At our old house in Rochester, I would wait for a few dry days and then mow over the leaves repeatedly, to shred and mulch them. Maybe not the most efficient way to take care of the problem (definitely dusty!), but it was easy on my back. Here at our new home, we still have a lot of mature trees (and even more small evergreens that will hopefully take over in 10-15 years), but I don't have a lawn, so I'm not really to worried about the cleanup. Picking up the piles in the corners around the house is pretty much all I need to do, unless I want bunches of brown goo to be waiting for me in the Spring.

How about you - do you rake and bag? Put them on a compost pile? Or do you take your chances and hope they won't damage the lawn too much by spring and just let them decompose in place? One thing you DON'T want to do is blow your leaves over onto your neighbor's property, or worse yet, into the street.

I have seen bags of leaves stacked up against the side of a house, presumably to keep it warm, but I am told that is a recipe for disaster, since critters love those comfy quarters and will surely move into your home via the "leaf bag express".

If you do end up raking a bunch of leaves, here's a tip: it is a blast for people of all ages to jump into a giant pile of leaves... just make sure there are no foreign objects in that pile:)