Crow’s Nest: Fallen leaves are an asset

At a certain point last week I realized I was different than most other people (what took so long, you say?). While most people are raking the leaves off their lawns and into the street, I found myself blowing the leaves off the road and parking area and onto the lawn, where I then chopped up the leaves in place with the lawnmower to add organic matter to the yard. If the leaves stay in the road and driveway they just get damp and slippery and it still looks untidy. Chopped up in the lawn they disappear and yet provide a benefit in the form of improved fertility of the soil. Other leaves I let blow back into the woods, since we are lucky to live surrounded by them.

Posted by Daniel Barringer on November 6, 2012.