Suburban bagged leaves?

I'm in constant need of "browns" for my compost and often could use a top up of mulch around fruit trees or garden paths. My city does bulk trash every month and every bulk trash a number of houses have put bags of leaves at the curb. Sometimes dry, sometimes fresh. Plenty of leaves for the taking, but this is suburbia where lush green lawns with none of those terrible "weeds" are to be permitted, so there's lots of trugreening and herbicide spraying by lawn services. Would you touch these leaves with a 10 foot pole?

I'm a low risk-tolerance kind of guy but the allure of one man's trash being another man's soil does pull me in.

I have spoken with a few neighbors who I know bag leaves on their property and broached the subject of wanting their leaves for my garden and how I intend to use them means not having chemicals.

For the most part, people are more than happy to part ways with their leaves to you because you can pick them up whenever whereas local companies only pick them up on set days.

I'd recommend start slow and ask one or two people you see out raking as a way to break the ice. It becomes easier with the more interactions you have!

The leaves haven't been directly exposed, but when the leaves are raked up, there's going to be traces of grass too. Personally, I would still take them, but I would probably compost separately before applying to anything directly. This gives time for bacteria/fungi to knock down any residual gunk.

The longer the period between application of gunk and leaf collection, the happier I would be. For me, it would have to be 2-3 weeks at a minimum.

I would never touch anything that came from a "perfectly manicured" yard. Whatever chemical they are using to kill the "weeds" and fertilize the grass is also taken up by any trees and it goes to the leaves. We only use grass clippings and leaves from yards that are a bit messy, ... that is to say, natural. If a yard doesn't have dandelions, I don't want their chems.

Thanks for all of the great feedback. I get the point that it would be better to compost first to take care of some of the gunk vs. use directly under fruit trees. The divergent perspectives here are useful. Right now, I'm using a lot of cardboard for my browns, which I want to get away from. I think what I might do is post on my areas nextdoor.com around bulk trash time and ask if anyone is putting out leaves who doesn't use herbicides or truegreen. If I get some "hits" great, if not, I'll have to reassess my risk tolerance. I will probably collect some of the leaves if I have to and continue to try to increase my "brown" production onsite (cover crops mainly).

Yeah, got a batch of leaves once that ruined my tomatoes.  If I ever collect again, I’ll take Jim’s advice and skip over the lawns that look medicated.

I've never had any trouble from leaves, but I avoid usually avoid all bagged grasses.
The very act of bagging grass clippings makes me suspect the worst.

William Bronson wrote:I've never had any trouble from leaves, but I avoid usually avoid all bagged grasses.
The very act of bagging grass clippings makes me suspect the worst.

Yeah, agreed, if you're bagging grass clippings for disposal instead of mulching, your head is on a different planet. Jove only knows what else you've been up to. I think I'll pass.

I am generally okay with most bagged leaves, but if possible I avoid manicured lawns like those before me mentioned. I also try very hard to avoid allelopathic plants in my area, most notably Black Walnut and occasionally Hackberry. As a rule, I have a spectrum of  options that I choose from for bagged leaves (And other organic matter), depending on condition, certainty of origin and sensitivity of target plants.

- Toss it (Heavily Contaminated, Dispose properly)
- Burn it (Biochar or Ash)
- Use Mushrooms/Vermiculture (Not at the same time)
- Compost it (Hot, Cold, Leaf Mold, etc.)
- Direct Application (Woodland Mulch, etc.)

Hope this helps,
Eric S.