You can pile them up in a corner of the yard and let them go; they'll compost themselves over the course of some years. Leaves by themselves are very slow to compost (they're "brown," or mostly carbon, and don't rot quickly). More advanced ideas would involve adding other things to the pile to increase the rot speed, but...

You can also chop them up (with your lawnmower is easiest) and use them as a mulch in the gardens or on shrubs if you want. They'll rot away and blow off when dry, but it's better than nothing. What rots off adds nice organic matter to your soil.

Personally, I mow mine into the lawn every year. All of them, and wish I had more. They compost in-place rather well and add a bit of organic material to the soil. Just as above, worms love them as food, too.

If you have soil that could use some improving, leaves are your best raw material. Think about it - this is what nature uses to take an area that was previously a meadow and turn it into deeply fertile and nutrient-rich forest floor. Some options:

• Leaf Mold - This is the best and easiest use for leaves. Gather them together in a big pile, or in plastic garbage bags. (Punch holes in the bags to let air in.) Leave somewhere for two years. Presto! Leaf mold. Leaf mold is a special compost made up of only leaves cold composted for a long time. It is black, moist, and crumbly and is a great soil amendment. For hundreds of years it has been used in France to fertilize kitchen gardens - and still is today. It takes no work, other than raking up the leaves. Tip: You can make it go faster by shredding the leaves first, and turning the pile every six months or so.
• Mulch - Shred the leaves and distribute on the top of garden beds. Use 4" to 6". It will help prevent weeds from coming up, making spring weeding a breeze. It will also add some winter insulation for worms and other garden helpers. By June when it is time to plant tomatoes and corn, it will be mostly broken down into a layer of compost. Do you planting, then go get some more shredded leaves to add another layer of mulch to protect your crop during the summer.

I agree with the above recommendations. I am not a "greenie", concerned about global warming. I am just someone who has analyzed the situation and acts accordingly

Think about it. Why would you put high priced fertilizers on your yard and then give it away with the grass clippings and leaves? Next year buy more expensive fertilizer and repeat the process. The only ones who come out a head in that system are the manufacturers and distributors. If you use a lawn care service they also benefit from the constant fertilizing. What do you get? An empty billfold.

We have lived in this house for over 9 years, using the above techniques we have turned muddy clay areas into a producing flower beds. The trees we planted are thriving with the leaf mulch they get every year. Downed limbs also make excellent mulch. When you put wood chips on the area they disappear into the soil in a couple of years. The flower beds devour all of the leaves I can find for them. It took me a while to learn what to do with the gum balls, but I found they make an excellent base for the paths through the wooded areas of the lot.

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Agree with the above. Mulch it, compost it, mold it, mow it in to your lawn, all good.

Great thing about composting leaves is you can just pile 'em up, forget about it and give it a fancy name like leaf mold and talk about your cold composting technique, humus something something something, soil enrichment techniques, etc. All while doing as little as possible.

Seriously, just pile them up for now and use whenever you see fit, as mulch or however. It might take longer to break down, might be a bit quicker, but you can use it anytime if you wish. If I need some and the stuff in my pile is only partway broken down, a bit of lawnmower blade action does the rest of the work (and that's partly cosmetic and finer, maybe a bit less likely to blow away).

One caution about that patch where grass doesn't take: leaf mulch in almost any form will help the soil there, but may not make grass grow there; depends what the issue is.

Thank you so much for all of this information! My first time using the forums and I am more than impressed with the responses. Much easier for me than weeding (see what I did there) through all of the information in a google search.

They have been removed by a city-wide effort for storm debris. Unfortunately, based on the sheer volume, I image they go straight to a bulk waste type collection. I had some evergreens, crepe myrtle and a large maple in the front that I imagine has been here since the house went up 1952. Thank you for information on mulching.. I am going to keep that in mind for any future tree limbs (well, eventually when there are limbs to trim again).

I am definitely going to incorporate some into the topsoil. Hopefully this helps encourage overall soil health.

I know you just raked them up, so how do you feel about scattering them over the lawn and mulch mowing them down into the turf??