Declan Kelly

Stephen Ward wrote:Hi all

so.. I bought my first house last November and wow. so many leaves. I raked a couple of hours a day for a few weeks before I broke down and got a blower. lots of sticks too. I left them on the ground for a couple months after I moved in, so the grass came in where the leaves weren't and didn't where the leaves were. I ended up pushing the leaves around the base of the trees because the soil needs work but if it was all together it would be like 3x5x10 feet big. I'd like to get the leaves composted down instead of hauled away, but if I keep piling them around the trees I won't be able to plant anything around the trees, which I'd like to do.

Next year when the leaves fall, is there some way I can get them to compost in place fast enough that the grass can start coming back?

tl;dr: I have a lot of leaves that I'd like to compost without raking into a pile.

Put mulching blades on your mower. It is good for your yard--free fertilizer.

Kate Muller wrote:I am also looking for information on growing mums.

Get cuttings from someone who has them. They root easy peasy. Just stick the cuttings in potting soil and keep it moist and in the shade for a few weeks until they root well. Rooting compound speeds it up, but I have had luck without it. I live in Virginia. If you want your mums to bloom in fall, you have to cut them back around mid June. People say "pinch them" but I cut mine. I got my cuttings from a place I worked that has them and just started them all like this when they were cut back. If you want them to grow back year after year in my area, you have to get those rooted cuttings in the ground by around labor day to give them time to get some good roots set before the frost in mid to later october.

Hope this helps.