Leaf vacuums??

[pinkytoe]

I had to come inside as the noise was getting to me. I seem to have moved to a street where leaves are evil. All around me on this gorgeous fall Saturday, neighbors are out with their leaf blowers and their newest acquisitions, leaf vacuums. First, they blow all the leaves into piles and then use the vacuums to suck them into a bag to be thrown away like trash. The silly thing is that this blowing and vacuuming goes on sometimes daily because it takes weeks for all the leaves to drop. Going to look for my ear plugs so I can go outside again...

[Tammy]

I hate them because they stir up allergens.

[rosarugosa]

Most of our neighbors avoid fall cleanup entirely, so they aren't really a problem in my neighborhood. I definitely prefer the zen of raking myself though.

[catherine]

I had to come inside as the noise was getting to me. I seem to have moved to a street where leaves are evil. All around me on this gorgeous fall Saturday, neighbors are out with their leaf blowers and their newest acquisitions, leaf vacuums. First, they blow all the leaves into piles and then use the vacuums to suck them into a bag to be thrown away like trash. The silly thing is that this blowing and vacuuming goes on sometimes daily because it takes weeks for all the leaves to drop. Going to look for my ear plugs so I can go outside again...

My young sons used to say, when I told them something they didn't want to hear, "Don't say that either!"

OMG. What do I hate more about this--the noise? The fact that they throw organic material in a plastic bag and put it in the landfill? The fact that they are throwing away fantastic future compost/fertilizer? So hard to say. I feel for you, pinkytoe.

[Alan]

…...OMG. What do I hate more about this--the noise? The fact that they throw organic material in a plastic bag and put it in the landfill? The fact that they are throwing away fantastic future compost/fertilizer? So hard to say. I feel for you, pinkytoe.
My backyard is heavily wooded with old growth trees and my front yard has three 20+ year old red maples, all with leaves just preparing to fall. I've found the best way to deal with them is a simple mulching mower. One or two passes over the yard and they're gone.

It looks like I'll need to get started in a week or so.

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/44944765_10213763901717889_6175558089928867840_n.j pg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=fa2b8fa4750ee4b6fa49b4e8afc471f6&oe=5C3CECD2

[Teacher Terry]

Beautiful Alan! We used to mulch them when we had grass. Now with astro-turf they have to go. I use a rake and shovel but DH loves his leaf blower to get them into piles and then shovels them. A friend wants some to mulch so that's a win. Many end up on our patio which means a push broom and shovel.

[catherine]

Nice, Alan!

[Rogar]

I use a mulching mower, too. It’s easier than raking and the leaves get mulched back into the lawn, which I imagine is good. My neighbor collects a few large bags of leaves and rototills them into his garden each fall. He is known among the neighbors as the tomato king because of his good vegetable garden.

[iris lilies]

My dad was using mulching mowers and he’s been dead for 25 years. What is the deal, why don’t people understand this concept?

[Teacher Terry]

Spent a hour raking leaves and giving them away to people for composting.

[Miss Cellaneous]

When I lived in a Boston three-decker, it seemed as if everyone in the neighborhood had a leaf blower. For front yards that were tiny and back yards that weren't much bigger. You could probably mow both in half an hour with an old-fashioned push mower. Raking the yards would have taken about the same amount of time.

What really bothered me was that there seemed to be some sort of neighborhood code that no two leaf blowers could be operated at the same time. The first one would start up at 7:30 on Saturday morning--the earliest time allowed by town ordinance. The blowing would last 20-30 minutes. Then a few seconds of blissful silence. And then the next leaf blower would start up. And the noise would travel up and down the streets until about noon. I became oddly grateful for the one neighbor who had paved over his entire backyard so that four cars could park there--at least there were no trees adding to the leaf piles and he didn't have a leaf blower.

The town had a regulation on how loud your leaf blower could be. But that really didn't help, in neighborhoods where the houses are very close together.

[Tybee]

Glad I live in the country; spent an hour mulching leaves yesterday with my riding mower, and they will help the grass grow over the winter.
My husband brings home other people's leaves for his compost bins. Drives me nuts, but it's a good thing to do, so even though I wish he were inside helping clean the house, and it's a lot more work, and I feel like he is a leaf hoader, his heart is in the right place.