Today I spent most of the day outside doing battle with my backyard. I counted 119 trees; but that's probably not accurate since I was counting while in motion on the rider mower. It's probably close though, give or take a few trees. Therefore, we have a blanket of leaves that need some attention. My whole neighborhood worked daily through last fall to eliminate every single leaf from their 2 acre (ave. size) lot. They have the elimination process down to a tee. Backpack leaf blowers, lawn services, etc. We, however did nothing. I have this theory: trees in a forest (which is kind where we live) drop their leaves annually, and they sit there and decay, forming over time, a rich humus-y soil layer right? So, why would it be beneficial to eliminate the fallen leaves every year? Isn't that depleting a nutrient source for the...119 trees?? (and I haven't even talked about the front yard!!!) So, I'm leaving the leaves. My husband thinks I'm a little crazy, but I think it's a good thing. I ran over most of the backyard repeatedly with the mower, mulching down all the leaves into teeny tiny shreds to help them decay faster. As I mowed along, Michael on my lap, I looked over at each neighbor's pristine yard, wondering if I was providing enough material for them to talk about at dinner tonight. "Freako tree-hugger-new-neighbor" came to mind. "Lazy, cheap, no leaf-blowing family" was another one. But then I thought about my happy trees, and helping mother nature along, and I felt better. So my husband likes to call me "haphazard," and honey, I sure was today. It was so theraputic to wind in and out of those trees in no particular order, mulching leaves down. Totally and blissfully haphazard. I picked up fallen limbs all over the place and stacked them in the fire-pit pile for the first campfire of the year. It's great. Later this week, I'll work on the front yard. It's hilly and a little more treacherous, so I'll work out my strategy first, so the visual of me rolling down the incline on the rider doesn't manifest...lol. Of course I can only do all this because Bret is on spring break this week and can help watch Michael. I also painted several spots on the front porch where squirrels and wood bees are snacking on the wood (geez!). So, I'm pretty much the home maintenance girl this week! And lastly, here's a few pictures of Michael sporting his new haircut.
2 comments:
I've always sort of wondered about those people in the golf course-quality front yards. You know, the ones that pour enough fertilizer on their lawns to pollute the entire Mississippi, but wouldn't DREAM of letting Mother Nature fertilize for free by leaving any "unsightly" leaf litter on the lawn.
Of course, I'm always hoping Ken will stop mowing one year so we can have a real life meadow habitat in our front yard.
My fellow tree hugger!
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