Perhaps if you shredded the leaves, they would work better. Whole leaves tend to get matted and keep water out of the soil. But it sounds like it works different mixed with the pine straw. If I had access to a lot of pine straw, that would be my preference as it should keep the slugs at bay.

anything natural that covers the soil to keep hot sun off the soil.. cooling it.. and retaining moisture would be fine ...

i never understood the idea of removing FREE ... key word there ... mulch .. only to have to pay for pretty mulch ...

ken

How to do you shred the leaves? I have tons of leaves at this new house and removed them this spring. However I can learn, and I am cheap, cheap, cheap!

Save the money for more plants!

oh .. i got the right answer .... per your other post ...

pull back native mulch.. plant the plant ... GOAL accomplished ...

if at a later time you decide to change it.. so be it ... its a job months away ...

the immediate goal is planting ... so do it ... dont get sidetracked by a future goal ...

see what i mean??? .. FOCUS dude ...

ken

ps: n2 .. you either buy a shredder.. not cheap ... or you take your lawn mower in there ... and shred them.. presuming you have the space to do that ... either method is usually very labor intensive ... which is also not cheap ... its hard work

"Hard work" is my middle name or is it "cheap?", Ken!

I bounce on the end of a shovel a lot. Glad my Daddy taught me how to use a shovel, even at this age. :)

I have a Toro leaf blower that you can reverse to suck leaves and shreds them. It only works with dry leaves not thick mats of wet leaves. Less than $100. I got mine on sale for $50.

I bounce on the end of a shovel a lot.

==>>> i had a pogo stick when i was a kid ... lol ...

and dont forget to sharpen your shovel once in a while ...

I can take on an axe murderer with my shovel!!!!

That quite a project going on there......it’s gonna look great when completed! 👍🏽

Oak leaves will stick together and provide a solid barrier to rainwater. My garden is surrounded by woodland full of mature oaks. I rake the leaves up, pile then into compost piles, and pull the compost out of the bottom of the piles as I need it. Since I don't turn my compost piles, it takes a few seasons for newly piled-on leaves to turn into compost, so I have a number of piles here and there in the woods. I could do the work of turning them to speed this up, but don't want to.

One summer I didn't rake the oak leaves up where I had a bunch of ferns growing, thinking the leaves would help the ferns stay moist. By mid-season the ferns were suffering from dehydration. Rain water got stuck in the mid-layers of leaves and never reached the ground. I confirmed this by hand-removing the dense leaves as my ferns were turning brown and crispy. They did come back the next year, and since then I've been pretty good getting rid of those oak leaves each spring, before the fern fronds come up.

Sometimes in the spring I've put compost on the ferns. Other times I haven't put anything there, leaving the ground bare. The ferns seem not to care either way. I now have hoses in there and water the ferns as needed when it gets hot and dry, usually July and August. Maybe if I packed enough compost on top of them, I could avoid watering them as much as I do. Not sure.

A lawn mower pushed right through the oak leaves will shred them, if the layers are not too thick for the mower to handle. This involves cleaning out the bag frequently. A lot of work! I'm not up to it, and neither is my husband. I think @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 upthread mentioned the lawn mower strategy.

@frankielynnsie, I can't wait to see your progress. Keep work-in-progress pictures coming!

finally.. thank you ... ken

Steve, I think I need the toro blower/vacuum thing. I have this honey locust tree whose leaves are very small. They are impossible to rake. I told my kid that we needed a riding vacuum to suck them up. Can you link the Toro you have?

This is the one I have, but there are other options out there.

TORO51618 (like the more powerful Toro 51619 or metal impeller 51621 as well as other brands). I sucked up a bunch of sticks and some small rocks and it didn't seem to hurt it, but the rocks coming out do hurt. Mine didn't come with the bag attachment (hence the sale) so my makeshift mesh bag was less than perfect. Sometimes the intake tube would get clogged and I'd have to stop working to unclog the tube, but the tube is longer than my arm so I need to turn it upside down and it's top heavy. So not a lot of fun, but it did work in areas that were too difficult to rake. I think it would be perfect for your little locust leaves.

I need the blower/mulcher that is not electric. Does anyone have a suggestion of a battery operated that is good?

Thank you, Steve!

I used to have the 14 HP Troybilt Super Tomahawk chipper/shredder and chip limbs up to 3 inches and shred everything that was probably 1/2 inch limbs and smaller and leaves. Worked great until I nearly cut my finger off. $1400 chipper (well half that amount since my dad went in for half that price), $5,000 ER visit and hand specialist surgeon later that week, lessons learned - priceless! This was over 20 years ago.

This is what the chipper looked like way back when:

https://www.purplewave.com/auction/141112/item/H5560/Troy-Bilt-15014S-Grinding_and_Shredding-Wood_Chipper_or_Stump_Grinder-Oklahoma

Anyway, I also found out before I got the chipper that matted leaves (not all oak leaves) over several years makes a perfect hiding cover for voles. I thought the shade was diminishing my hostas but it was voles eating the roots under the cover of several inches of leaves. Shredded leaves break down much quicker, look tidier, and best of all keeps rodents from hiding.

Anyhow, follow all safety rules and never work mad (or drive mad)!

I used to leave the oak leaves on my biggest hosta bed over winter. Voles moved in. I now rake them off in late fall. The hostas do just fine overwinter without a blanket. No problem at all.

I use my leaf blower to get the leaves on my lawn, then mow n them with the bagger on, then dump the bag back into the landscaped areas.

^^I should do that, but I'm too lazy. Maybe this year.