So excuse my voice over, I was a DA and thought AskTOH’s Jen Nawada could help me.
But I digress-Great little place with tons of leaves around the my 3 season cabin in the PA Poconos. I spend a few days every Fall/Spring pushing the leaf fall away from the sides and into the woods surrounding. I can’t/don’t want to cut all the trees down but I wonder if it would be ok to push the ones in front of the property to the far side and allow the rest of nature to sprout? It’s been 10 years at least since that part of the property was maintained/used, to that part of the cleanup is going to be a challenge.
Any thoughts?
Thanks, and enjoy my movie.
by Sensitive-Swim-3679
4 Comments
Leaf clutter is good. Just push a couple feet from house and leave the rest. Good bugs overwinter in leaves. It composts on its own and improves the soil.
Just leave it. It’ll break down over time.
Blow or rake it away from walk/driveways if you want.
Steal from permaculture. Make planting beds big & small so you can just leaf blow the leaves into them – locally sourced mulch. It’ll help the area that gets covered retain moisture (less watering), create habitat for friends like fireflies, and create free fertilizer as the leaf mulch breaks down into leaf mold and eventually into soil. Consider the corners of the property, walking paths, fire pit/outdoor living areas, and sight lines from outside and inside the home. Put a planting zone somewhere in each of these. Then anywhere that you don’t want leaves, just blow the leaves into zones that are okay with leaves. You have plenty of trees but they’re pretty young still and you get enough light for many shade-part sun plants. Evergreens anchor spaces, I’d recommend every bed have some but the outer beds have the most. This makes the whole lot feel anchored and purposeful throughout the year. Native wildflower beds interspersed with ferns near walking paths, and shrubs near seated areas for privacy and comfort in the space. If you do any mulch beds near the house, leave about a 6” clearance. If you have water pooling at the house, you have a drainage problem not a leaf problem. Mulch beds do harbor bugs, but they’re not all bad and most of them prefer outdoors to the indoors. If your spray for bugs, which I would, spray inside first always. Permethrin is good unless you have cats. Wait until the next dusk/dawn, then spray the outside – ONLY the house. Gets all vertices and corners of the walls, and same for windows. Do this inside THEN outside, once a month spring to fall, and every 2-3 months in winter. If you share your planting zone (zone 5 or 6 prob?) I can recommend more.
So it doesnt smell?