How to manage leaves in a large yard?

[RollinCoal02]

Just wondering what those with a large yard and a bunch of trees do to manage leaves in the fall. Just moved to a large property in the country (10 acres, moved from a rural city.) how do you move the leaves and where do you put them? Last night I plowed a bunch with a track skid steer into the field but I can’t do that to the whole yard.

 

[Del_]

Let it all grow up into woods and let the leaves kill the grass. Blow the leaves in a small area that you want to keep grass in to an area just beside the lawn that you are going to keep.

Large lawns are a waste of a lot of things, including time.

 

[esean]

I just mow after the leaves have fallen so they're shredded up pretty well and don't cause a problem. I'm surrounded by woods, and this works well for the areas in full sun. If there's an area where leaves are thick enough to choke out the grass, then I don't try to maintain that part as lawn. Some is mowed or burned once a year in early spring then left to grow in summer. I'm with Del - I minimize the lawn to what I actually need. The rest is wild (or semi-wild) space. That's why I moved out into the country.

 

[Mad Professor]

Cut the grass real low before the leaves fall is key. I rent a big commercial walk behind blower and also have a large Stihl backpack one.

I blow them into big piles and then they get used for mulch the next spring on the gardens. I have a pickup bed trailer for the farm tractor to move them.

Even more fun than the leaves are the white pine needles.........they mulch the blueberries.

 

[thenne1713]

Just wondering what those with a large yard and a bunch of trees do to manage leaves in the fall. Just moved to a large property in the country (10 acres, moved from a rural city.) how do you move the leaves and where do you put them? Last night I plowed a bunch with a track skid steer into the field but I can’t do that to the whole yard.

Get a tow-behind, with easy dump, like a DR, ($1000+?) and create MULCH BINS WITH OLD PALLETS for fence/ walls would be MY suggestion; come Spring/ Summer, 80% of volume will be converted?

 

[J_Ashley]

Mulching blades on your mower - I suggest Oregon G5 Gators blades.
Get a chute blocker - I'd highly suggest a GrassFlap.

Mowers work great in reverse for leaves. Backing up with the chute open, you have one heck of a blower. Back over the piles/rows with the chute blocker closed, and it will turn the leaves into dust.

I was clearing a parking lot yesterday. I was chopping the leaves so fine, that the mower wouldn't even suck up all of the chopped pieces off of the sidewalk. Literally, almost sand-like in density.



Mulch the leaves in areas where they're not overwhelming. Blow/move the heavy piles to areas where you don't mind them being there. Mulch them up once there, and disperse with a blower. Stihl BR800x or bust here...

 

[tomsteve]

only on an acre here but have 3 walnuts( smallest being 32" dba), 3 oaks(28 dba smallest) and 3 maples( 30" dba) in my backyard that drop a few leaves.
i start by cutting the grass short. blow into piles on a tarp, drag em off to a back corner of the yard.
some end up on the firepit.
if i had that much property to take care of id be lookin into a tow behind blower.
or front mount turbine

 

[tomsteve]

only on an acre here but have 3 walnuts( smallest being 32" dba), 3 oaks(28 dba smallest) and 3 maples( 30" dba) in my backyard that drop a few leaves.
i start by cutting the grass short. blow into piles on a tarp, drag em off to a back corner of the yard.
some end up on the firepit.
if i had that much property to take care of id be lookin into a tow behind blower.
or front mount turbine

 

[Mad Professor]

I've got 40" dbh pine trees in the front yard, what needles doesn't go on the blueberries, goes on the burn pile.

This is crap from one winter.

 

[sean donato]

I just mow them over if I'm feeling frisky. More times then not, I just let them lay. I'm surrounded by woods. Leaves in the yard don't bother me that much.

 

[dboyd351]

I have 4 acres with about 1/3 in "lawn" and the rest wooded in pines and various hardwoods. I tow a lawnsweeper behind my lawn tractor. It will sweep the lawn almost totally clean. About once for each lap around the lawn the hopper gets full and I pull it over to a ravine on the side of the property and dump the load of leaves. tie a line to the hopper so you Can dump it without ever leaving the tractor seat
By the following fall The leaves will have compacted down to less than a foot thick

 

[gregwscott]

I have more oak trees than I can count so every year it is a must to pick up the leaves or I would have no lawn in the spring as they would just drown out the grass. I used an Agri Fab leaf vac for about 8 years it worked ok but it was a constant battle due to the smallest stick would plug up the 6" hose going to the vacuum. Two years ago I upgraded to the Cyclone Rake XL. This thing is almost impossible to plug you can drive over so many leaves your front tires are not even hitting the ground and it just keeps sucking them up. If you need to pick them up then this is the way to go. The one pictures is not mine, mine is covered in dust!

 

[snobdds]

I have a lot of trees at the ranch. The old lady hates leaves and so do I as the dogs just bring in leaf debris with their coats.

I have a leaf blower that I blow everything into manageable piles. Bring a tarp of around 10x10 next to the pile. Rake the leaves onto the tarp. Pick up each corner and take it to the dump trailer. The dumb trailer gets dumb in the meadows somewhere. I do this each week while the leaves are dropping. It only takes me a hour or so to do the entire yard. I just got done doing the front yard last night after the last storm blew all the leaves off. Have to blow off the roof and then the back yard and I am done.

 

[OHGwp1]

Let it all grow up into woods and let the leaves kill the grass. Blow the leaves in a small area that you want to keep grass in to an area just beside the lawn that you are going to keep.

Large lawns are a waste of a lot of things, including time.

Just wondering what those with a large yard and a bunch of trees do to manage leaves in the fall. Just moved to a large property in the country (10 acres, moved from a rural city.) how do you move the leaves and where do you put them? Last night I plowed a bunch with a track skid steer into the field but I can’t do that to the whole yard.

i just leave them, never do anything with them... occasionally blow the sidewalk, deck and flower beds.

 

[ATH]

Let it all grow up into woods and let the leaves kill the grass. Blow the leaves in a small area that you want to keep grass in to an area just beside the lawn that you are going to keep.

Large lawns are a waste of a lot of things, including time.

+1 to all of that.

Had a friend to would call it "recreational mowing" - they must really love mowing to spend that much time doing it.

 

[kodiak]

I have more oak trees than I can count so every year it is a must to pick up the leaves or I would have no lawn in the spring as they would just drown out the grass. I used an Agri Fab leaf vac for about 8 years it worked ok but it was a constant battle due to the smallest stick would plug up the 6" hose going to the vacuum. Two years ago I upgraded to the Cyclone Rake XL. This thing is almost impossible to plug you can drive over so many leaves your front tires are not even hitting the ground and it just keeps sucking them up. If you need to pick them up then this is the way to go. The one pictures is not mine, mine is covered in dust!

View attachment 1027536

Is that PTO driven or does it have it's own engine? I've been searching for a PTO version but they are hard to find.

 

[Non professional]

Well I only have an acre but I just blow them into the back wooded part. Burning them is the best solution if your town allows it, unfortunately due to the actions of a few really really stupid people burning is not allowed here anymore. My advice is to get a good blower or two. I have struggled with crappy blowers for years. I have a buddy who owns a landscaping company, he saw me using my pile of **** blower and he came by with one of his new Echo 9010s. I have to say after using that blower I’m definitely buying one next year. That thing is a beast, a couple people with a couple of these could probably clean up 10 acres in an afternoon or two.

 

[psc1947]

I've got 40" dbh pine trees in the front yard, what needles doesn't go on the blueberries, goes on the burn pile.

This is crap from one winter.

View attachment 1027375View attachment 1027376

Fire is a solution to a lot of problems if you know what you're doing. Drip Torches are too expensive. I mix Diesel and Gasoline and use a pump up sprayer. Start around 16:1 mix and test samples till I get the mix I want. Have gone as high as 11:1 with old stale gas. I worked with NC Forestry at Ft Bragg in 1969 and set miles of fires around the artillery ranges. With a sprayer you have to guide the fire not drip fire like with a torch.

 

[fishercat]

Back of a tractor. Runs off PTO. Golf courses use them to clean fairways.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1739847904...zFewRgWRR2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[muddstopper]

I find that my mower does a real good job of blowing and mulching the leaves. It only takes me 27 minutes to mow my yard. I mow every week whether it needs it or not and that keeps the leaves from becoming a big nusiance. If I mow so the discharge is in only one direction, by the time I get to the edge of the woods, there is simply not many leaves left, it all turns to little bity pieces.