November 14 – While I was strolling in the yard the other day, a neighbor, John Rodolico, slowed down his pickup, rolled down a window and asked, “Where do you want them?”
“There,” I replied, pointing to a clearing near the rhododendrons, and walked over to help unload the cargo: barrels and bags of leaves.
At this time of year, most people throw away leaves. Not me, I collect them.
The average tree has 200,000 leaves; By my count, I have collected 14,697,856,320,417 leaves so far this year, a few hundred thousand.
John, a former mayor, has long delivered the leaves he rakes from his lawn every fall. This year he also brought a large batch from another neighbor, Bob Pinto.
Not to seem ungrateful or to take anything away from John’s leaves, but Bob’s were infinitely superior – they were shredded, making them ideal for my raised garden beds. I spread some chopped Bob’s Grade A leaf litter around tall, feathery leaves of perennial asparagus plants, which were still green in November despite a few frosty nights, and used the rest to cover three other raised beds, where I plan to replant tomatoes , next year potatoes, kale and peppers.
I dumped John’s unshredded leaves around the rhodies, which are less finicky than vegetables. This mulch will cover them all winter and help keep weeds and soil moist the next growing season. Over time, the leaves will decompose into rich soil.
After spreading John and Bob’s leaves, I checked my phone and saw that I had received messages from two other neighbors.
“Fifteen more bags waiting for you,” Gary Savill texted.
“Seven more bags if you want them,” Anita Merando emailed.
With such a large load, I enlisted the help of Bob Graham, who has an aluminum trailer. I had to move quickly to beat Bob’s wife, Betsy, who grabbed an earlier batch of Gary’s leaves before I could pick them up. She and Bob also use leaves to protect native grasses for a rain garden they expect to plant next spring; we agreed to share our leaf harvest.
As Bob and I were hooking up the trailer, a grinding whine filled the air: leaf blower. Someone nearby used one of the cacophonous contraptions to clear a lawn.
Years ago I organized a competition to demonstrate the inefficiency of the gas machine compared to my old-fashioned hand tools. Bob was the referee. You can use this link to watch a video: “My rake is faster than your leaf blower,” produced by Peter Huoppi, multimedia director of The Day
I made a mental note to track down the blower operator – not to complain about the noise, or even to politely suggest a better, less intrusive way to clear leaves, but to find another “customer” ” to register on my collection route. It’s a win-win situation: I get free mulch and the neighbors don’t have to haul leaves to the transfer station.
According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, more than 100 municipalities in Connecticut operate leaf composting facilities; some sell or give away garden compost. A list is available at portal.ct.gov/deep/waste-management-and-disposal/organics-recycling/active-leaf-composting-facilities.
There is also a growing movement, promoted by environmental organizations, to simply leave leaves.
As the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation note on their websites, leaves provide food and shelter for many birds, small mammals, amphibians and insects. In addition, rotten leaves become a natural fertilizer to create healthy soil.
However, manicured lawns may not thrive with thick layers of fallen leaves, so conservation advocates suggest raking—not blowing—leaves away from the grass into areas around shrubs and gardens. Better yet, replace or reduce lawns with natural ground covers and pollinating plants.
I imagine if everyone followed this advice my leaf collection service would go bankrupt, but that’s okay: I have plenty of my own leaves to rake, from walking paths around our property. I can exceed 15 trillion.
