Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

Does anybody have a strategy for removing leaves from a mulch bed
without losing tons of mulch. I have a lot of trees on my property and
on the surroundingplots of land. I have had a lot of leaf removal to
do this season and I will have an equal amount of mulch replacement to
do. I have been using my blower to push the leaves to a pile and try
to stay away from using a rake.

I do not use the vacuum attachment for my blower as it jams often and
and it was very time consuming. However, just on the last leaf
cleaning day of the season, it broke so I have purchased a Toro Ultra
Blower.

Is the only way to remove leaves from a mulch bed without losing mulch
to use the vacuum attachment?

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

wrote in message
ups.com...

Does anybody have a strategy for removing leaves from a mulch bed
without losing tons of mulch. I have a lot of trees on my property and
on the surroundingplots of land. I have had a lot of leaf removal to
do this season and I will have an equal amount of mulch replacement to
do. I have been using my blower to push the leaves to a pile and try
to stay away from using a rake.

Why? It requires both muscle and skill, but a rake is the
single best tool to move leaf mulch a yard at a time. (For
greater distances, use a board in either hand to lift leaves
onto a barrow. Three loads lifted fill most wheelbarrows.
This requires muscle too.)
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

On 17 Dec 2006 05:52:57 -0800, wrote:

Does anybody have a strategy for removing leaves from a mulch bed
without losing tons of mulch. I have a lot of trees on my property and
on the surroundingplots of land. I have had a lot of leaf removal to
do this season and I will have an equal amount of mulch replacement to
do. I have been using my blower to push the leaves to a pile and try
to stay away from using a rake.

I do not use the vacuum attachment for my blower as it jams often and
and it was very time consuming. However, just on the last leaf
cleaning day of the season, it broke so I have purchased a Toro Ultra
Blower.

Is the only way to remove leaves from a mulch bed without losing mulch
to use the vacuum attachment?

Confused. Aren't leaves one of the components of much?

Are you talking about the compost heap/container where you make the
mulch, or about an area where you have spread finished mulch?

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

Much of the mulch on my property was here before I moved in so I do not
know for sure what it is.

The mulch I have added to parts of the property is pine bark mulch.
aspasia wrote:
On 17 Dec 2006 05:52:57 -0800, wrote:

Does anybody have a strategy for removing leaves from a mulch bed
without losing tons of mulch. I have a lot of trees on my property and
on the surroundingplots of land. I have had a lot of leaf removal to
do this season and I will have an equal amount of mulch replacement to
do. I have been using my blower to push the leaves to a pile and try
to stay away from using a rake.

I do not use the vacuum attachment for my blower as it jams often and
and it was very time consuming. However, just on the last leaf
cleaning day of the season, it broke so I have purchased a Toro Ultra
Blower.

Is the only way to remove leaves from a mulch bed without losing mulch
to use the vacuum attachment?

Confused. Aren't leaves one of the components of much?

Are you talking about the compost heap/container where you make the
mulch, or about an area where you have spread finished mulch?

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

Rocky,

Your mulch beds are organic material that is permeable to water but
blocks sunlight and thus inhibits the growth of weeds. Leaves do these
things. So leave the leaves on the mulch beds. Many lawn mowers come with
"mulchers" to chop leaves up into mulch.

Dave M.

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

There is no better tool for leaves than a rake and a big tarp. Bigger
the better - I use a 20x40 foot tarp that'll hold a minivan sized pile
of leaves. The tarp gets tied with rope to the back of my riding mower
because I'm getting lazy. Drag that up the hill, find an open spot in
the woods, and drag the tarp over itself to dump. Easy and doesn't
annoy the neighborbood with noise.

The only place a leaf blower has been useful is ivy. The rake is hard
on the leaves.


-rev



wrote:
Does anybody have a strategy for removing leaves from a mulch bed
without losing tons of mulch. I have a lot of trees on my property and
on the surroundingplots of land. I have had a lot of leaf removal to
do this season and I will have an equal amount of mulch replacement to
do. I have been using my blower to push the leaves to a pile and try
to stay away from using a rake.

I do not use the vacuum attachment for my blower as it jams often and
and it was very time consuming. However, just on the last leaf
cleaning day of the season, it broke so I have purchased a Toro Ultra
Blower.

Is the only way to remove leaves from a mulch bed without losing mulch
to use the vacuum attachment?

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

wrote:
Does anybody have a strategy for removing leaves from a mulch bed
without losing tons of mulch. I have a lot of trees on my property and
on the surroundingplots of land. I have had a lot of leaf removal to
do this season and I will have an equal amount of mulch replacement to
do. I have been using my blower to push the leaves to a pile and try
to stay away from using a rake.

I do not use the vacuum attachment for my blower as it jams often and
and it was very time consuming. However, just on the last leaf
cleaning day of the season, it broke so I have purchased a Toro Ultra
Blower.

Is the only way to remove leaves from a mulch bed without losing mulch
to use the vacuum attachment?


You could try asking the fine folks in rec.gardens (if you haven't
already).
The group does not have nearly as much traffic as here, but they have
lots of experience.
Personally, I use a rake. But, my beds are pretty small.

-Felder

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

With regard to leaving the leaves on the mulch beds - I thought of
this. However, leaves decompose and cause fungus as well. This can
bring soil diseases that can kill the surrounding plants. I would
prefer to have a depleted mulch bed than to have dead plants.

As for the tarp idea, I do this in my backyard as it is the most level
portion of my yard and I have to drag all the leaf bags to the front
and down the hill. However, it does not solve the problem of saving as
much mulch as possible in the process of extracting the leaves.

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

replying to aspasia, Terri Sufka wrote:
aspasia wrote:

Confused. Aren't leaves one of the components of much?
Are you talking about the compost heap/container where you make the
mulch, or about an area where you have spread finished mulch?


Leaves are not mulch. Depending on they type of tree, leaves can be
composted for use in gardens next year as fertilizer. Also, if leaves are
shredded onto lawns they are great feed for the worms and such living
below the grass to decompose and it doesn't take too much time for that
(best bet).

Mulch is usually shredded bits of tree bark, or shredded twigs, and made
up of different types of trees. Mulch is used decoratively to landscape
lawns, usually around trees, plants, light posts, shrubs, and even patios
(like at my rental property). So Mulch is usually made of harder things
than leaves, which are soft. Mulch is made of wood chips, tree bark, and
whatnot that has better staying power and is heavier than grass clippings,
leaves, or any compostable item. Mulch usually isn't blown away unless
winds are very strong. Also a tarp is lined over soil to keep the mulch
in place and keep weeds from sprouting up in the mulch. Tarp is placed
under the mulch and is made of:

Poly yard tarps are made of heavy duty industrial polyethylene. Poly yard
tarp is light weight and versatile. Poly yard tarp fabric has built-in UV
protection for both sides for maximum weatherproofing. Designed for
maximum strength and durability. (I don't advise using this kind of tarp
because polyethylene and any polyvinyl treated plastics contain a heavy
amount of chemicals that cause cancer in humans[like the shower curtains,
plastic raincoats, plastic polyvinyl boots, and anything with polyvinyl
and polyethylene in it). (per the blogger here I know that polyethylene
and polyvinyl are some of the worst cancer-causing chemicals in products
to humans. I cannot speak about what it does to organisms in the ground
under the mulch, nor less the birds and other animals who crawl over them
or pause to drink by them every day).



Heavy duty vinyl yard tarps are made of heavy duty 10 oz vinyl coated
polyester, which are strong and tear resistant. Heavy duty yard tarps are
designed for longer service life and outstanding performance.


--

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

On Sunday, December 17, 2006 9:52:14 AM UTC-5, Don Phillipson wrote:
single best tool to move leaf mulch a yard at a time. (For
greater distances, use a board in either hand to lift leaves
onto a barrow. Three loads lifted fill most wheelbarrows.

I use a snow shovel. Much easier than a board.

Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

replying to RockyCJC, lynn wrote:
I too have wasted a lot of good mulch by raking and blowing leaves off the
mulch and even then it's impossible to get all the leaves out of the mulch.
Last year I covered the entire area of mulch with a fine netting that I found
in the garden section of Home Depot. I have no idea what the netting was
supposed to be used for but it worked for me. It took a while to get the
netting around all the bushes but it wasn't all that difficult. I just had to
layer some of it . The netting came in rolls and included plastic stakes that
I used around the edges and a few throughout the area to keep the netting in
place. It worked perfectly for the 3 months I kept it on until all the leaves
were done falling and it was super easy to take off and throw away. The best
part was that I could use my leaf blower on high speed to blow all the leaves
away and out of the bushes as well without losing a bit of mulch. Sorry I
don't know the name of the product but I think anything of this nature would
work and it was very, very cheap. ($2 to $3 per roll) I really wish someone
would patent a product specifically for this use.

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Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

replying to lynn, Lori wrote:
Genius
Thank you Lynn!


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Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

replying to RockyCJC, mary p zaft wrote:
I remember watching a landscape specialist at our school blow a huge amount of
leaves into one big pile from our mulch landscape, She left the place and no
leaves with mulch in place. She did a certain twirl and lift motion with the
blower and it worked.



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Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

replying to RockyCJC, MICHAEL Avery wrote:
No matter what you use whether it be a rake or a blower the vacuum will
definitely clog but all of it takes technique with the rake you have to skim
the top and the last little bit you have to rake and rake and rake until just
the leaves are on top and pick them out by hand or with the leaf blower the
technique is to twirl and lift at the right angle and it can leave the bark
alone and remove just leaves you might have a little bit mixed but I think
it's far better than using a rake if you use the vacuum attachment on your
blower you will more than likely pick up some bark at some point that's
clogging or even breaking your blower

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Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

replying to Lori, Nicholette201 wrote:
Awesome!! I was thinking of doing the very same thing. My husband thought I
was crazy- but now I have proof it works!! Thanks for sharing.

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Cleaning Leaves out of Mulch Beds
 

replying to RockyCJC, Dan wrote:
What is it

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