- Author: Ken Williams
September first, Labor Day, and I have been laboring. Each year around this time I have to start dealing with the leaves that fall from my beautiful tree; Acer saccharinum, Silver Maple. Yes, it is still 22 days until the first day of autumn. In years past, I dutifully raked and bagged and then put in the green waste container or my compost pile until it becomes too full, sometimes filling up both green waste containers. This is a normal occurrence once a week for five to seven weeks depending on the weather. A lot of work but the shade that it provides from its placement on our West side is more than worth it. Not to mention all of the great compostable material.
I have changed from raking and bagging to blowing and mulching this past year. I know blowing isn't the “greenist” way to go, but with all my different landscape areas raking is really difficult. I can gather all the material to the middle of the lawn area and then with the mulching/vacuum attachment I can reduce the bulk amount by my estimate of about 1/5th. The mulching allows me to get more in the green waste container and it also allows for faster composting. I also have a couple of fellow Master Gardeners who are always good for a couple of bags for their compost pile. If you haven't tried the mulching/vacuum idea you should give it a try, it also reduces the amount of time I spend on the leaves and gives me more time for other gardening chores.