I deal with 3 massive city-owned (and admittedly beautiful) chinquapin oaks and two privately owned red maples on a 1/3 acre lot. If the leaves don't get removed then everything dies as a result of the acidity and thick leaf cover that also wont fully decay before the next autumn. There is no room for a compost pile of that size considering that the leaves couldnt make up more than half of it. I'm not a fan of grass lawns but the city and the HOA have to give the 'okay' before a lawn change can be made.

I really fucked up my lawn by putting red clover down in addition to white. Red clover is perineal and grows tall and falls flat on its side. It decays into this horrible straw like shit. I hate it. Horrible horrible decision.

Because it's sort of fucked for a few years I guess, I've been a lot more hands off with leaves. Because hey, even if it kills off some of the stuff there then that's fine by me. I think I only mowed once this year. I only blow leaves off the driveway and onto the yard.

This summer I'll see the fruits of my labor. I'm really curious to see if there are substantially more fireflies.

Or realize that there is still tons of land that isn't maintained and is actually a better habitat for bees anyway. Even in your own neighborhood ther is plenty of places that don't get tended to. This is really just a diversion to redirect people from all the things the ag industry does that harm the bees on a scale us individuals, even collectively can't hold a candle to. Remember when they tried to convince us that leaving the water running while we brush our teeth was a major usage of fresh water. But again, compared to the ag industry, all household water use is a drop in the bucket.

How do I know when the queens are out?

A tree is like a quiet roommate, but makes a huge mess before leaving to travel internationally for half the year.

As a Brit we were always taught to gently disturb leaf piles before jumping in them or throwing them into the fire, just in case hedgehogs were in there. The habit has stuck, although I now just rake our leaves up onto the mulched beds and leave them. The chickens will then pull them apart and consume any living thing unfortunate enough to live there.

Too bad HOAs are far more concerned with making sure everything looks plain and perfect to the 70 year old humans walking on the street rather than giving any craps about wildlife.

I've decided to leave the leaves on my yard and I swear my neighbors are mowing and leaf blowing twice as much just to spite me.

IDGAF. I'd rather have fireflies and bumblebees than human neighbors

I'm pretty sure if I didn't do any yard work by May I'd have the city repossessing my home.

wuht

I always mulch mine with my mower. Only bugs that might be in them is scorpions, grubs, ants, or the odd snake sometimes

[email protected] vibes.

Brings nutrients into your soil so you have a healthier lawn

I don't view this as a "pick up the leaves or not" false choice. I leave the leaves in some areas and mow over/pick them up in others. They're literally free mulch and compost

I'll (electrically) blow leaves off of walkways, but the vast majority of them stay put. Fuck a fucking lawn.

until it snows, then it becomes a slip-n-slide for all.