Mulch, mulch, everywhere!

A special thank you is in order to all my wonderful neighbors.  They work diligently to rake and bag leaves, then courteously stack them up on the roadside.  I'm quite sure they intend for the city trash truck to haul them off but I greatly appreciate their contributions to my gardens. 

My favorite bags are filled with pine straw.  The pine needles lay down neatly, allow moisture to flow through to the soil, provide a uniform color, and don't allow many weed seeds to sprout.  I reserve the bags of pine straw for my front and side gardens.

Chopped leaves are my second favorite find.  They are not common as most of my neighbors would rather rake than mow up their leaves. 

I pay attention to the variety of trees in my neighbors' yards--most of them make wonderful mulch, unchopped leaves blow around a bit but decompose slowly, creating a long-lasting mulch that also attracts earthworms and retains good moisture in the soil.  Weeds are nearly non-existent in a garden that is well-mulched with last year's leaves.   The only leaves that make me cringe a little are oak leaves.  While they make a very dense mulch layer, those pesky acorns sprout like crazy and if I don't get to them quickly, are difficult to remove.

Since I don't own a truck, collecting and hauling bags of leaves is a bit of an adventure.  I have learned that I can usually stuff five large bags in my trunk if I don't latch it, just let the weight of the trunk lid hold the bags in.  I can shove three more bags in my back seat and one more large bag in the passenger seat for a total haul of ten bags of leaves in one load.  Some of my neighbors are so generous, I have to make multiple trips to bring all the mulch home.

This (compulsive?) leaf collecting is a little embarrassing to Bob for some reason.  He gets a little nervous as the mounds of bags grow in our backyard.   Don't worry Bob, they will all be "gone" soon.