Random thoughts.

I feed some leaves to the weedeater then mulch the hostas with em. Can't say I ever have any ill effect.

Are any of your trees black walnut? There is a toxin in black walnut leaves which is not good for some plants.

Don't pile a foot of leaves up on the trunks of trees. That can lead to trunk rot.

I don't think that it would hurt them, but depending on the type of leaves and the setting, may be an eyesore.

"Don't pile a foot of leaves up on the trunks of trees. That can lead to trunk rot."

Agreed.

What really made me concerned about the leaves is reading about shallow rooted trees like magnolias needing oxygen to their roots. It made me wonder if I'm doing mine a disservice by dumping so many leaves around it every fall. Not up against the trunk but all the way to the dripline. I do the same with some spruces and old maples. Despite leaving all leaves on the lawn and mulching as many as I can, I just have too many leaves to chop. Some will have to be left to rot in piles, but perhaps those piles should not be under trees..

logic would dictate that a tree in the forest.. litters its root zone with its own leaves.. and thats natural ...

but you raked them up and piled them.. but you dont really tell us what that means in terms of volume .. i would presume you dont mean feet deep ...

regardless ... some leaves form mats of stinking rotting leaves.. that do not allow air to move in and out of the soil .. anaerobic is the term i believe ...

short of creating that nightmare ... i doubt you have created a problem ...

ken

I fear I am guilty of piling them feet deep... which I will now try to undo.

There's really no way to avoid piling them feet deep, even mulched, is there? (I'm in Central Mass.). I have a similar situation and I think maybe the leaves might actually act as a mulch and weed barrier to the Oriental bittersweet and wild grape invasives that were trying to kill the tall large trees on my perimeter. I've removed most of the newest leaves and cut back most of the invasives, so we'll see what happens this season. Toronado, I do have black walnut and unbeknownst to me, I actually winter-protected my roses with the leaves, as well as oak and maple leaves. Do you think it hurt them? I just learned about Black Walnut Toxicity.

I wish I could keep some leaves as mulch in place without putting wood mulch on top, it's too damn windy at my place. I have bags of leaves from the leaf dump AKA Compost dump. I have to put the leaves on the soil and hurry and put the wood chips on top. Most days, not all, but MOST it's so windy I'm cussing because the wind is blowing the leaves away before I can cover them with wood mulch.

Maybe planting a windbreak is in order.

I can't stand to look at leaves for very long, so this would be a very quick decision for me. Run them over with the lawnmower. I do, however use them chopped up in compost. Oak leaves are great for plants that love acidic soil like hostas and gardenias.

Erin, I probably would not push my luck with the walnut leaves on the roses.

What I do is run over the general population of leaves in my yard with the mower well into the fall. Those trapped on the driveway I blow into a pile then suck up.

I have windbreaks in some spots, I have a big yard, you can't put them everywhere of course. I'm sure once my trees get larger the crowns width will keep the wind from taking a good bit of them. I guess until then I do what I have to and try for a calm day. I guess in nature the leaves never get too deep around tree trunks, or if they do, the tree dies? I think it would have to be pretty bad. It would need to be really wet and up against the trunk. Thats all I've got on the subject.

There is another way of handling a lot of leaves. Have you thought about increasing the size of you wild areas, or putting in more flower/bush beds?

I have left about a tenth of my yard as a "wild" area. We have camellias, azaleas, and dogwoods planted in that area. We encourage any wild flowers that appear. I have paths through out the area, for pleasure and maintenance.

Benifits: it gives me a storage space for excess leaves and pine needles. It gives me a place for a slash pile until I can get it chipped and shredded.

It gives me the pleasure of watching both the deep woods birds and the birds that like more open spaces.

In the yard closer to the house we have several flower beds with more azaleas, butterfly bushes, roses, and hostas in the shade garden.

In other words all of the leaves that the trees produce, are either left where they fall or used in the flower beds.

Hi knuttle, I didn't explain good enough. I like to mulch under some of my trees that I plant shade plants under. I would like to use fall leaves, but, they would'nt stay in place without wood chips on top for very long. I just will use both, it will be a good thicker layer anyway. I am currently planting plants under this tree as it gets wider, I mean shade lovers. I had planted 2 Azaleas, but, they died because the tree wasn't shading them enough, OR I didn't water enough til established for them being in pretty much full sun. I have a big circle around the tree, which is mulched, well, was, I need to get it mulched again, the old mulch has composted away. I have perennials in the mulch circl, hostas, Brunnera, etc. There's just always something to do in the yard, I need to make it a priority, after the greater priorities are taken care of. I have the leaves in garbage bags, they aren't going anywhere. The weeds under this tree are getting pretty prolific. I need to get them taken care of before I do the mulching. I have noticed in some of my "wild" areas the leaves stay in place. I do also have those wild places also, I think we have 2 acres, something like that, and we're rural, it seems like more than that when I'm cutting grass, I think it's more like 3. I have planted many trees in my yard, they're small now though. Eventually the leaves will stick around under my trees as the trees get taller. I will limb them up, but not so much that the wind can get under them and blow the leaves away when they're bigger. I can only say, for now I need to wait for non-windy days. Thanks though.

My location often gets windy. In the winter time I used many bags of collected leaves to protect my container plants. Unfortunately many of the leaves would often blow away from the wind. What helped keep most of them in place was by watering the leaves after I put them around the containers. I watered the leaves until they were really wet, heavy and they stuck.

I could try that. I think I will put the wood chips on top anyway to stop them from blowing away when it's all dry, but, until I get it all spread (leaves) the wetting down will help. Thanks stuart. If I remember tomorrow i'll get a pic of the area, but, likely Saturday. I guess it doesn't matter pic or no pic. The leaves are still whole, so big ones will fly away in wind, but, my hose should reach the 2 trees I am doing this with. Later.