Last week’s wind and rain had the locust leaves coming down like snow.
Sunday, October 6:
Sunday, October 6
Wednesday, October 9: Mark took advantage of a break in the weather on Tuesday to turn the garden pots upside down to let the rainwater drain away. Another inch of rain fell the next day so it was perfect timing.
Perfect timing for the pots but the rain overflowed the gutters which told us they were stuffed with leaves. You can clearly see the line in the leaves where the water came over the gutters. Mark typically gets up on the roof to clean the gutters a few times in the fall but the rain has kept things too wet to do that.
Sunday, October 14: No denying the season anymore. Note how much more the deck is awash in little golden Locust leaves.
The ground under and near the biggest Locust tree is covered in leaves.
Since it had been dry for a few days and rain was again predicted for Sunday night, Mark got up on the roof to blow down the leaves and scoop out the ones in the gutters. The view before he started.
You can see the problem!
Once the deck was buried in all those additional Locust leaves, I told Mark that I would deal with them.
He blew them into a great mass which I then attacked with a broom, a rake, a huge dust pan and big plastic contractor's bags.
Once the garden dies back and I clean everything up, then I will take my bags of Locust leaves and put them down on the garden as fall mulch.
I don't usually put down a fall mulch on the assumption that the snow will be the protective cover. But last winter's lack of snow suggests that I should not count on snow to do the job. I'm not taking any chances this year.
That is a lot of locust leaves. Around our Ash tree we have a layer of ash seeds collecting. I leave them around the tree but take the ones from the patio and get rid of them due to them all germinating. I could have an Ash forest here. It is too bad that the Ash borer is around. It is really looking like fall at your place. I put away the big pots/planters in my garden yesterday. We didn't get a freeze yet but it is close.
Posted by: Lisa at Greenbow | Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 06:55 AM
That's a lot of leaves on your roof to deal with! Their small size will make them great winter mulch and they could even be left on the beds to decompose come spring. Love the look of your deck covered in golden leaf snow.
Posted by: Peter/Outlaw | Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 08:45 AM
I had a huge locust tree at my place in Spokane, I remember the golden drop fondly...until it was time to deal with clean up. I had no Mark, and no blower.
Posted by: Loree / danger garden | Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 10:57 AM
There's nothing like home grown mulch and what an attractive one the locust leaves will make. It's a lot of work though!
Posted by: rusty duck | Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 01:15 PM
After viewing the first photos, I was wondering if you kept the leaves for use as mulch. Collecting them is a chore and a half I'm sure but at least you get value for the effort.
Posted by: Kris P | Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 06:22 PM
I definitely use them for mulch. No chooping required.
Posted by: Linda Brazill | Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at 08:48 PM