I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
make a tip run.

But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?

--
Cheers, Rob

On Sat, 13 Nov 2021 09:51:04 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com>
wrote:

>I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
>street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
>of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
>lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
>guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
>make a tip run.
>
>But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
>dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
>footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
>'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
>talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?

Rightly or wrongly, I rake up my leaves (mostly oak, ash, beech and
sycamore) and dump them on my flowerbeds as mulch. They feed the soil,
and worms eventually take them down. A slow process though.

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On 13/11/2021 09:59, Chris Hogg wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Nov 2021 09:51:04 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
>> street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
>> of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
>> lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
>> guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
>> make a tip run.

Don't you have a green recycling bin or have they already stopped
collecting for winter?

>> But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
>> dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
>> footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
>> 'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
>> talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?

It is still fly tipping even if the thing being tipped is natural
leaves. Take it to the recycling centre instead.

> Rightly or wrongly, I rake up my leaves (mostly oak, ash, beech and
> sycamore) and dump them on my flowerbeds as mulch. They feed the soil,
> and worms eventually take them down. A slow process though.

I make leaf mould out of mine in the councils green garden waste
recycling bin. I already compost all my ordinary garden waste on a
moderate scale hot heap (set of three).

I keep leaves separate because it takes much longer for them to rot down
(2-3 years) and it makes a better grade of leaf mould compost. I have a
lot of beech leaves too and they contain a natural fungicide can
completely stall a normal compost heap.

They are not bad as frost protection mulch for delicate bulbs.

One of my neighbours burns wet leaves with clouds of smelly smoke every
autumn. This is damned annoying and sets off the village hall's smoke
alarms (correctly).

The green bin collections are now out of phase with nature so that we
have the daft situation of the last kerbside bin green waste collection
occurring whilst the leaves are all still mostly on the trees :(

Next chance of them being emptied will be for Xmas tree disposal.

Reminds me I need to rake the leaves off the village green for tomorrow.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 13/11/2021 09:51, RJH wrote:
> I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
> street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
> of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
> lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
> guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
> make a tip run.
>
> But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
> dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
> footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
> 'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
> talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?
>
I leave em on the ground. By spring the worms have eaten them, and the
birds get to eat the worms.

--
WOKE is an acronym... Without Originality, Knowledge or Education.

On 13/11/2021 09:59, Chris Hogg wrote:
> On Sat, 13 Nov 2021 09:51:04 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
>> street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
>> of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
>> lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
>> guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
>> make a tip run.
>>
>> But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
>> dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
>> footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
>> 'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
>> talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?
>
> Rightly or wrongly, I rake up my leaves (mostly oak, ash, beech and
> sycamore) and dump them on my flowerbeds as mulch. They feed the soil,
> and worms eventually take them down. A slow process though.

I have ash, beech, and cherry/plum. The first and last compost
relatively quickly, but beech is hopeless.The worms leave it alone. It
does make a good mulch though, as it lasts years. I have tried picking
them up off the lawn with my mower, but although it does pick them up,
the leaves remain basically entire. Only a leaf vac shreds the majority
of them, and they can then be placed in poly bags for a few years to
make almost-decent leaf mould. It's remarkable, though, how even after
that time some of the beech leaves remain whole and identifiable.

--

Jeff

On 13 Nov 2021 at 10:26:10 GMT, "Martin Brown" <'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk>
wrote:

> On 13/11/2021 09:59, Chris Hogg wrote:
>> On Sat, 13 Nov 2021 09:51:04 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
>>> street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
>>> of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
>>> lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
>>> guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
>>> make a tip run.
>
> Don't you have a green recycling bin or have they already stopped
> collecting for winter?
>

We can, but have to pay. As I only have a small garden it doesn't seem worth
it just for the street trees.

>>> But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
>>> dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
>>> footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
>>> 'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
>>> talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?
>
> It is still fly tipping even if the thing being tipped is natural
> leaves. Take it to the recycling centre instead.
>>

Technically, yes, it's fly tipping. I was just wondering if it's realtively
benign fly tipping.

--
Cheers, Rob

On 13/11/2021 10:36, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 13/11/2021 09:51, RJH wrote:
>> I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
>> street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my
>> share
>> of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And
>> there's a
>> lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each
>> year I'd
>> guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden
>> until I
>> make a tip run.
>>
>> But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local
>> woodland to
>> dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
>> footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of
>> muck and
>> 'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
>> talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?
>>
> I leave em on the ground. By spring the worms have eaten them, and the
> birds get to eat the worms.
>

I just run the lawn mower over dropped leaves and dump them in the
compost bin.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

On 13 Nov 2021 at 10:36:10 GMT, "The Natural Philosopher"
<tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> On 13/11/2021 09:51, RJH wrote:
>> I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
>> street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
>> of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
>> lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
>> guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
>> make a tip run.
>>
>> But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
>> dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
>> footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
>> 'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
>> talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?
>>
> I leave em on the ground. By spring the worms have eaten them, and the
> birds get to eat the worms.

Thing is, they block the drains, and the pavements and street turn into a sort
of slurry mush, which dogs seem to take to for toileting.
--
Cheers, Rob

On 13/11/2021 11:46, RJH wrote:
> On 13 Nov 2021 at 10:36:10 GMT, "The Natural Philosopher"
> <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 13/11/2021 09:51, RJH wrote:
>>> I'm lucky enough to live amongst some large lime trees on a terraced city
>>> street, currently doing their autumn thing. I'm a bit slow to clear my share
>>> of leaves as it involves, I thought, a trip to the council tip. And there's a
>>> lot of leaves - about a cubic metre of compressed, wet, leaves each year I'd
>>> guess, just for me. So I tend to just pile them up in my rear garden until I
>>> make a tip run.
>>>
>>> But I found out recently that some of my neighbours use some local woodland to
>>> dispose of the leaves. This strikes me as counter to the 'leave only
>>> footprints' way of thinking, and might be introducing all manner of muck and
>>> 'unnatural' doings to the woodland. But then I don't really know what I'l
>>> talking about, so wondered if the group had any opinion?
>>>
>> I leave em on the ground. By spring the worms have eaten them, and the
>> birds get to eat the worms.
>
> Thing is, they block the drains, and the pavements and street turn into a sort
> of slurry mush, which dogs seem to take to for toileting.
>
My garden doesn't have either drains or streets in it

--
"Strange as it seems, no amount of learning can cure stupidity, and
higher education positively fortifies it."

- Stephen Vizinczey