Backyard View - November 2014

I’m continuing my monthly post of morning images of the trees in our backyard that I started in September and continued in October. Since all the leaves have fallen of this month, I’ll take a hiatus until next spring and then do another series in the spring.

The November trees were colorful…and then bare by the end of the month. At the beginning of the month, the tulip poplar (middle) leaves were mostly on the ground, the maple (right) still had a lot of red leaves and the small locust next to the pine was turning yellow. The images in the slide show below were taken on the

2nd, (still some green in the maple)

3rd, (no more green in the maple and there are more leaves on the ground)

4th, (there was some raking done for the thickest area of leaves)

8th, (the locust has turned completely yellow and it is obvious there will need to be more raking)

11th, (the neighbor’s yard crew did now work, the maple is has dropped a lot of leaves but the locust still has quite a few)

13th and (not leaves on the maple, the locust has lost most of its leaves as well)

20th. (the neighbor’s yard crew blew off the leaves and left bare dirt).

Since the last picture - I raked again. I leave the leaf mulch in areas that are too heavily shaded to grow grass!

Last Leaf Raking of 2014

The last raking of our yard was done this weekend. I put it off until the loud noises from leaf blowers ended. I prefer to hear the noises of leaves and small animals in the yard and forest while I work. There were only a few places where the leaves were deep enough that the lawn mowing in a few days (the last of the season) would not shred them enough to feed the grass rather than smother it. The base of the maple was the largest area; I had already raked once but the tree still had half its leaves at that point.

I left the leaves in the flower bed. The mint seems to be enjoying the protection of the leaves through the recent temperatures in the teens and twenties; this calls for another small mint harvest to create a pot of fresh mint and ginger ‘tea’.

I am putting leaves around the base of the sycamore that came up in our backyard a few years ago. It is growing up: the bark is beginning to peel and it had one seed ball this year.

In a little over an hour, the job was done - mostly. I stopped because the base of my thumb felt raw under my work glove; sure enough - a few layers of skin had been rubbed away by the friction of the rake handle. 

Raking Leaves

BeforeRaking leaves is work --- but one of the enduring and endearing chores for our fall yard. The yard crews that swarm our neighborhood tend to use noisy blowers but I prefer a rake. I like to hear the noises of the birds in the trees….the crackles in the forest of deer or squirrels. I started on the part of the yard that had the densest covering of leaves. The grass is already sparse in that area; the trees are shading the area more thoroughly every year. I raked them into a big pile and into the forest.After

I left the leaves on the ground between the maple and the forest; the dirt is already exposed in the area. Maybe the leaf mulch will slow the runoff during the rain and snow to come. Next year we’ll have to try heavier mulching and planting some shade loving plants….and attempt to keep the deer away from the area long enough for them to become well established.

I still have to rake the front yard. Raking the leaves always seems like such a huge task when I first start but it gets done….and then the yard will sleep until spring.