Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for October 15, 2022

Nature has a way of getting in the last word.

After the grand kids play in the pile he will burn it. Love the smell of burning leaves

That one was doomed. Though I think I’ve got spouse convinced that mowing the “grass” (there still is some grass in that plot, along with all the volunteer weeds) can be done once, maybe twice per year. And we long ago agreed that weed-killer chemicals were probably as bad for us and our pet critters as they are for the weeks. Maybe worse.

And a nice try it was

Husbands, there so cute

Nothing natural about raking leaves. It’s the HUMAN thing to do.

Yeah, doesn’t quite work that way.

Panel Four: google “how to mulch your leaves”. “Just shred the leaves with your lawn mower as much as possible soon after they fall. Check to be sure that the mulched leaf material left behind is not excessive.” Bag excessive amounts of mulched leaves and “dispose of the rest according to your city or town’s guidelines”. There is more but the above is a general idea.

Of course, just leaving the leaves where they are to slowly disintegrate over time IS probably better for the environment, not to mention for the wildlife… so there’s a perfect reason not to rake leaves OR cut grass. And burning the leaves is hardly ecological at all… Unfortunately, such messages are about 200 years too late.

There was a sudden Climate Change in the home.

You’re actually supposed to let the leaves stay where they fall, they provide cover for all the tiny critters down there.

https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2015/OctNov/Gardening/Leave-the-Leaves

Human Nature is exactly like Mother Nature because humans are part of nature, not separate from it. They both are simultaneously joyous and terrifying.

Most people don’t realize that leaves contain a lot of fertilizer and should be mulched and spread over your lawn and shrubs beds.

Leave the leaves!

There is a misconception about leaf breakdown. It is not short term, as some think. Example: In a half acre yard with a dozen mature oaks up to 65’ tall, letting the leaves lay is sure death to the lawn and to some of the trees.

My neighbor has let the leaves cover half his yard like that for well over 25 years. When the dog digs in or we just kick up the leaves when we walk, many leaves from the bottom layer look almost a good as if they had been pressed in a book, even though they were years in the layer. There is sign of some breakdown but not a complete change. As to insects, his bug catchers usually fills their baskets with mosquitoes and other biters 3-4 times or more between May and Sept.

A few leaves? Yes. Using a mulching mower and aerating the result into the soil works, and even that takes a couple of seasons to work. On the other hand, a layer of 6-9" or more keeps water from the soil, harbors pockets of insects, both helpful and harmful, and leaf disintegration barely begins over the next 4 seasons. In addition, the more leaf detritus in the soil, the greater the need for soil conditioners to balance the Ph factor to promote seed growth.

For what it’s worth, that’s my take, based on a lot of years of trying to keep the hoa happy while not spending my life chasing the illusion that cut green grass is so much prettier than a yard full of flowers.

While I agree in principle with letting sleeping leaves lie, I just know that if I do some neighbor or other will give me a ration of s—t about my leaves blowing on his, or her, or they or their or it’s lawn.

We kept our lot as natural as we could. Most of the lot is wooded. So when it comes time to remove the leaves, I just blow them back into the forest from which they came.

We do not have trees inside our fence. So I blow the leaves up against the fence. Then I configure my leaf blower to suck up the leaves into a bag. Instead of using the bag, I bungee cord a piece of flexible drainage pipe to where it should attach and simply blow them over the fence.

I mulch the leaves with the mower. Done. They break down. I do not have issues with leaf build up. Leave the leaves.

They actually do something now called “No Mow May” where they don’t mow the lawn or pull the weeds in May. Supposedly, it has a positive and fast effect on the bee populations. So he might be able to use that as a legitimate excuse come Spring.

Props to Pops for using a rake and not one of those gawd awful noisy, polluting leaf blowers!

Or, you could try getting rid of your nature-killing lawn and let the marvelous diversity of plants arise from the breakdown of the leaf mulch, which would help restore the soil and land back to its proper state.

And when your done there go rake the forest like a former president said needs to be done to prevent more fires

Shred it with a mower and leave it to protect the lawn and turn to mulch

Bagger mower.

Actually … It is better to mulch leaves up and return their nutrients to the soil.

Sounds like when I tried to explain to Mom that the FDA advised that dishes be left to “air dry”. Even though I pointed out that towelling dishes dry just spreads any contaminant to clean dishes, she never did buy it. Yep, I still had to dry the dishes with a towel. By some miracle, the family survived. :)

Whatever method you use remember to keep the house’s gutters clear and thank the street crews for clearing the drains. Happy trails!

Nature is "the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth. We tend to forget that WE are part of nature. We can’t survive without it. We may be able to create a lot of stuff to ‘substitute for specific ’natural’ things, but we can’t create anything without ‘natural’ materials to start.

Nature works by keeping things balanced by the constant interaction of the whole biotic and environmental world. Plants grow where the climate and soil works for them, taking in CO2 and giving off O2. Animals (including us) breathe O2 in CO2 out. Bees gather nectar and spread pollen; bats eat cashew nuts and scatter the seeds; deer graze a field allowing new grasses to grow; cougars and wolves cull the deer herd avoiding the dangers of overgrazing and herd sicknesses; vultures clean up animal remains. Dung, dead plants, etc. disintegrate and the nutrients are absorbed into the soil where they help plants grow. Balance, everything working together in many ways that we are just starting to realize, let alone understand.

Nature — the physical world — survives by keeping everything in balance; and, just like every other natural thing, we humans are part of that balance. But we tend to take out much more than we put back. We have been very clever at figuring out how to use Nature to create wonderful lives for ourselves. And that’s great, for us. But we need to start being clever about how to help Nature get back her balance or we have to be clever enough to figure out how to survive without her.

The 2022 global Living Planet Index (LPI) shows an average 69% decline in monitored vertebrate wildlife populations. I wonder what that has done to the invertebrates, plants, soils, waters, atmospheres, etc. that depended in some way on their existence?

Be kind to Mother Nature. Where will you go if she makes you leave home? [Ziggy, circa 1970]

Just hire one of those companies that park their huge truck in your driveway, the workers unlimber the long, flexible hoses, fire up the on board gas-powered engine and vacuum up all the leaves in your yard in about 30 minutes. It’s not nature’s way but you’re back to your coffee and newspaper right after you pay them.

I don’t rake, I mulch and let the nutrients go back in the soil

COMPOST!!!!!

Just realize that while you are out raking leaves, you do not have to listen to her come up with any more chores. Think of it as a mini-vacation away from your wife.

I never understood raking and burning leaves. They are natural compost!

We call it “Mother Nature” for a reason. If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.

My dad made a composter (which he called a mulch pit) in the back yard. Wood frame covered in 2×3 fencing. Leaves, and garden waste went in, and dark soil poured out the bottom.

Used to live where I had two giant silver maples, had to rake a lot, mow the leaves and then bag them. Moved to a lot and it had no trees. Just mowed the few that blew in. I did plant a few trees but it wii be a while before they have trees like my last residence!

We live in a forest and we do not rake! Eat your hearts out suburbanites with HOA’s watching to see if you’ve cut the grass this week…

He is right. Just let the leaves lie. It offers a lot of advantages.

Get out there in nature and enjoy it while you can!

never could figure out why people rake leaves. we call it mulch

not sure why people remove their mulch

Wow, most of these folks would agree if they read each other’s comment. Do they each think they’re the only one with The Answer?

I don’t mind the leaves, but I have a couple of poplars that planted themselves, and little sprouts are constantly popping up. Same with sumacs. It’s hard to keep any open space when these trees want to form a forest. Also keep picking acorns out of the vegetable bed—I guess I’ll put them out for squirrels in the winter.

Yes, rake them leaves up, add to the negative side of climate change.