Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like a rabbit and deer
Running away.
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.
I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?
Next to nothing for weight;
And since they grow duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.
Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who's to say where
The harvest shall stop?
So....what do you do with your leaves? It's funny, but I divide my leaves into the 'bad' ones and the 'good' ones. The bad ones get composted. The good ones get to be pathways in the wildlife garden. Good ones are in the oak family. Pecan leaves matt down, turn slimey and so get composted. Thanks for stopping by and commenting on what you do with your leaves. BTW: Bagged leaves here in Houston get composted by the city in our recycling programs. :-) David/ Tropical Texana
Love your leaf poem. We are in the midst of fall ourselves over here in Central Florida. I've discovered my two red maples have created quite the mess on the front lawn. I can't imagine how bad it will be when they are mature trees. As for what I do with my leaves? Mulch, compost, mulch!
ReplyDeleteIn the past, I mulched 'em and spread 'em like, well, mulch. This year - it's compost experimenting time! Though there's plenty of leaves left in the beds where they fell.
ReplyDeleteHej David!
ReplyDeleteI slutningen af oktober falder bladene her i Danmark. I starten lader jeg dem ligge, hvor de falder. De gør efterårshaven smuk og de tørre blade rasler hyggeligt når man går rundt på gangene, samtidig med at de dufter dejligt krydret. På et tidspunkt kommer der en efterårsstorm, der spreder bladene ud i havens bede, eller jeg fejer dem sammen og dækker sarte planter til som værn mod den hårde vinterfrost. Herefter ligger de og formulder og indgår i havens cyklus, hvor de bliver til værdifuld humus.
Venlig hilsen og godt nytår til dig og din familie.
Jørn
Right now, I'm leaving them where they are and testing whether or not I can allow leaves to compost where they land. In the past, I've added them to the compost pile.
ReplyDeleteTranslation of Danish from Jorn (I don't have the Danish O letter on my keyboard, sorry) (I had outside help) :-)
ReplyDeleteHi David,
In late October the leaves fall here in Denmark. At the beginning, I let them lie where they fall. They make the garden beautiful in Autumn and the dry leaves make a nice rustling
sound when you walk on the garden paths. At some point the Autumn storms spread the leaves all over the garden beds. I also sweep them together and cover tender plants for protection against harsh winter storms. After that, they decompose and form part of the garden cycle and become valuable humus.
Kind regards and Happy New Year to you and your family.