Is there some reason people rake leaves?

[Bouncy Ball]

I mean, what is the benefit?

What would be the harm of leaving them there?

I've always wondered about that. The largest tree in my front yard drops its beautiful yellow-gold huge leaves all over the lawn and I think it looks so pretty.....

....then I see all my neighbors raking and leaf blowing and everything looking so tidy and I admit it, I feel like I should give in to the pressure and rake.

But I LIKE the leaves. What is the reason people rake them?

[leftofthedial]

1. I haven't raked leaves in going on twenty years.

it makes your yard a little lumpier, but I hate "lawns" anyway.

[Bouncy Ball]

4. I asked my husband why people rake leaves

and he just shrugged. Either he really doesn't know, or he likes that his wife doesn't see raking as a necessity. Or both.

LOL!

[LizMoonstar]

7. hear hear!

Lawns drive me nuts. My young man and I decided that if/when we live in a house that has a lawn space, we want to turn part of it inot a Zen rock garden, and let part grow in with clover (for the bunnies to eat!) instead of grass - no mowing, but soft for (potential) children to play on. My dad went through and got rid of all the clover in his lawn and then wondered why the rabbits were eating his flowers.

[benevolent dictator]

2. my parents drilled into me that not raking the leaves kills the grass

although... if the grass is dead... then you don't have to mow it, so really, i don't see the harm of leaving the leaves there.

[Bouncy Ball]

5. Ah

well that just gives me even more reason not to rake. The huge tree makes it almost impossible to have grass on most of our lawn anyway.

[disillusioned1]

3. They kill grass

Personally I hate grass. Leaves are much prettier.

[tuvor]

6. You're looking for an excuse not to rake, too, huh? n/t

[Bouncy Ball]

11. Well not really

I mean, I'll do it (or husband will do it, or we both will) if there is a good reason to.

But I wasn't sure there was a good reason to, plus I really like how they look. Big yellow oak leaves like they fell from the inner dome of heaven.

[tuvor]

15. Not sure where you live, but

out here, they turn brown after covering up the green grass we're lucky enough to have throughout the rainy winter.

[Bouncy Ball]

8. To add more information

we are the "sloppy yard" on the street. I know our totally anally retentive neighbors on either side curse us under their breath for our lack of putting in 20 hours a week on the yard like they do, but dammit, it doesn't look that bad. It's just not perfect, like theirs.

Literally I saw the guy on one side of us cross the lawn from his driveway and go over JUST to pick up ONE LEAF on the grass. One leaf.

[jobycom]

26. Move next door to me

We can start a neighborhood reverse revivial program. I don't rake, I don't clip, I don't trim, and I only mow when I can't get to that darned car anymore.

[Ediacara]

9. Supposedly kills grass

I have yet to see the evidence.

[Goldom]

10. wow.. finally, some fellow grass-haters!

I love dandilions... I don't care if they take over the grass, they're more pretty anyway.

Why do I have the crazy feeling some freepers will see this thread and be like "OMG DUers are ANTI-GRASS!! No wonder they're so un-american!!"

[Bouncy Ball]

12. LOL

And yet probably 50% of them have crappy lawns, anyway.

Well it's true I think the needing to have a perfectly manicured lawn is silly, time-consuming and money-consuming anyway.

I'm not anti-grass. I'm pro-leaves. ;-)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

29. I think that a whole people who tend to lose cars in the front lawn...

...are grass obsessed, and THEY make US look bad to the rest of the world, well, in more ways than that.
Duckie

[Phentex]

28. I often wonder why we discriminate against the pretty weeds....

They stay green. They come back. They are hardy and don't need much water. Why kill them? :)

[Dr.Phool]

13. I'll just wait for the next Hurricane

To blow them into a neighbors yard.

[Bouncy Ball]

14. LMAO

No hurricanes here, but the really anal neighbor has NO trees in his yard and the wind usually blows our leaves into his yard.

[azoth]

16. Vanity? Our street is obsessive about their lawns.

Our leaf blower works overtime in the fall. It's insane.

[madrchsod]

17. i grind them up with my lawnmower

just before it snows

[Bouncy Ball]

19. You just reminded me

I really need to get a mulching lawnmower. Been meaning to for quite some time.

[auntAgonist]

18. It drives our Bushie neighbours

CRAZY that we don't manicure our property heheh ..


leaves everywhere .. so we have HUGE trees

[Ron Green]

20. Compost. n/t

[reality_bites]

21. Some peole think that what's under the leaves...

are prettier than the leaves.

Others spend mucho dollars for lawn manicures. If you leave leafs on the lawn, mthe lawn will die.

[pansypoo53219]

22. i wonder about that too.

and this stupid obsesson with lawns.what up with that?

[yellowdogintexas]

23. another one who shreds leaves w/lawnmower and moves them

to the compost pile. I have a grasscatcher on the lawn mower and I just
catch the shredded leaves in the bag and dump them in the compost.

Then I have wonderful compost to add to my flower beds the next spring.

And I have oak trees. The oak leaves do not decompose as fast as maple, plus when it rains the water just runs off them, and doesn't get to the grass as well. So it is best to shred them

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. They make nice cover for my wildflowers

and protect potted perennials from the cold.

[Tsiyu]

25. I rake them because they are a fire hazard here

but they also make animal bedding and bedding for herb beds and perennial beds.\

Seriously, they can fuel a hot fire when they dry to brittle stage.

[LeftyMom]

27. So I can compost 'em

and to keep them out of the pool. Also after the rain they get slimy and are a bit of a safety hazard.

If the point is just to let them feed the lawn running the lawn mower over them breaks them into managable peices so they can feed the lawn.

[frictionlessO]

30. Great thread Bouncy!! Im pro leaf and very into trying to keep things

natural and organic looking as if you were really in the woods.
After we bought our new house at the beggining of Autumn I had a long leaf vs grass talk with a neighbor (everybody owns at least an acre on this street).

He said something that is still making me laugh, while talking on the finer point of ornamental lawn care, I asked him "why not just let nature take its course?"
his reply: "you dont think that grass just grows like this, do you?"...

Ha haha! I guess grass is completely man made, nature has nothing to do with it.

Didnt have the heart to tell him hat I had indeed seen many a wild meadow that could put his lawn to shame...hehe

edited: danglings and speilin