[gardeners] new mountain
Margaret Lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 13 Nov 1998 14:48:59 -0700
I have a new mountain of leaves, most of them shredded, in my garden area.
The mound will undoubtedly settle, but for now it's about my height, 5'5"
tall. The fellows who mow lawns next door and across the street telephoned
to see if I wanted leaves and I said "yes." The smartest thing I think I
ever did was have a huge gate installed in our back fence so trucks could
drive in. These guys bring grass clippings in summer when I'm ready for
them (dumping them here saves them at least an hour of driving to and from
the landfill, so they're delighted to bring them here). They really
compacted those leaves in their high-sided pickup, and the leaves puffed up
after being released to a mound bigger than the truck. Great stuff! Now
if only I could get someone with horse pucky and bedding to bring it here...
I talked with the power line tree trimmers a few days ago. It really would
be closer for them to dump chips at my place than where they do go, but at
the time I talked to them, they were trimming elms. The fellow said elm
and willow chips will start rooting if you use them in pathways. I think
he's right. I've got to catch them when they're in a long line of maples.
BTW, they've been trained by our urban foresters to trim trees in a V
shape, power lines in the middle. No topped trees. ;-)))) Margaret