LEAF PICK UP

This is the time of year to talk with your lawn and landscape service about leaf removal (if you hire fall clean up). Not all companies know that dumping leaves (or branches) in the ravine causes matting and is illegal. If you need to hire leaf removal, neighbor John Blake who owns Outdoor Sensations, provides this service. Learn more or contact John by clicking here: http://www.outdoorsensations.com/curbside.htm

OR, BETTER YET, MULCH YOUR LEAVES

A better idea for leaf removal is create a spot in the yard and dump all the leaves to create leaf mulch.  Only took me one year to get mulch and after two years…I have got some great mulch…for free!  I even collect leaves from my two neighbors!  Phil Ashley

Sherrill Massey from Friends of the Ravines writes:

Does anybody encourage mulching the leaves instead of getting rid of them? My mother used to refer to leaf piles as black gold. You can run over them with a lawn mower to ground them up smaller to assist with the decaying process. Why discard nature’s nutritional bounty?

Sherrill’s comment reminds me of the story Judy Robinson tells when she talks to elementary school children about recycling. Judy asks, “What do you do with a bottle after you drink what is inside?” A child says, “I throw it away!” And Judy asks, “Where is away?” This raises a discussion and awareness about what we can recycle and reuse such as foods to compost, leaves to mulch, rain runoff from the roof to water our gardens, clothes to Volunteer Services, and so on.