We had a hard freeze Thursday night/Friday morning. The big mulberry tree dropped almost all its leaves Friday. They were everywhere! Today, we got after the leaves & my daughter helped out. She loves raking! Look at how big this pile of leaves is - and we still have about the same amount to rake up!
Oh my word, I thought we had enough leaves to rake up with our two large hawthorn trees Glad to see you had a willing helper. What do you do with them, do you use them for composting?
That's one enormous pile of leaves!! So glad you had your daughter there to give a helping hand. What do you do with all those leaves once you've raked them up?
My mulberry trees did the same thing. We had a hard freeze and when the sun hit them, it turned the frost to water and they all fell within about 20 minutes.
These leaves will mostly end up mulched and tossed out on the cotton farm to enrich the soil there. My wife's family farms cotton. Years ago, I mulched leaves & made a pile for later disposal. I never got to them & it rained a lot that Spring and when I finally got to the pile of leaves, there was the blackest compost ever! I don't have a place to compost these - at least not a place designated for such. Last year, I hired a guy who took all the leaves out to his uncle's farm. I think I'll leave the pile there - and add to it - at least through Thanksgiving, because we have family & friends coming in & the kids will get a kick out of jumping in a pile this big.
Hells bells that is some pile of leaves. I would love that lot on my leaf pile on the allotment. Leaf mould is so good for the heavy clay soil up there.
I'd love to jump in that leaf pile! We never get piles that deep here. I miss my grandparents' maple tree row now.
I'm glad I don't have a Mulberry tree.Dooley is so allergic to them she woulkdnt have moved here.that little lady is beauty.
I'm so pleased to hear that those leaves will be recycled. I use them as a mulch in my flower beds and they do a fantastic job!
WOW! Talk about a mulch pile for next years compost! Would be a perfect time to start a worm bin! Make sure to check under the leaves in spring for some free red wigglers.
I explained to my daughter - nothing is wasted. In the natural course of things, living things die & decompose, making food/nutrients for new living things. This is a non-bearing mulberry, so we don't get berries, but there are some around here. One big one out on my wife's family's cotton farm. My wife grew up climbing that tree & eating mulberries 'til she got sick! Birds eat them too & then plant seeds all over town! I don't like to use leaves as mulch for Winter, because they provide food & shelter to snails. I hate snails! When I mulch, I use cedar mulch, or simply sand to protect root systems. I am keeping the leaf pile through the end of this week, as it's Thanksgiving & my nieces will be in town. They love jumping in piles of leaves!
That´s a lotta leaves....Wouldn´t you like to take a running jump at that pile and just disappear into it! Oh boy, what fun....
Our big mulberry tree is losing it's leaves. They come down steady. It almost looks like golden snow. They did turn gold and orange and brown before falling. Luckily I don't have to rake them. The landlord says his wife will do it on Sunday. I hope he knows that she will have to do it the next Sunday, too. I wouldn't rake them anyway as I'm allergic to mulberry. dooley
