Because whole leaves are easier to pick up off the carpet when they come in on the dog and cat fur.

We have an acre in town, and just on my lot are 7 pecan trees, a huge oak, a plum, and a mulberry. We had an ash and another mulberry but they fell in a storm. Next to the fence are various and sundry other trees. Because I have a fence all the way around the house, the leaves don't blow out of the yard like they do for my neighbors.

They make patterns and pile themselves up according to the wind patterns. In one part of the yard there are no leaves at all, because I dunno, the wind blows there more or something. The fences all have piles against them.

Where the pecans are, it is nothing but a giant mat of leaves for half an acre. (A late freeze got our pecans this year. Not even the squirrels got a nut. ) Mulching them would make it easier for them to decompose, but it would still be a giant mat, and I can't imagine the dog toys that are hidden under them already!!!

We rake and blow and burn and compost. There are so many leaves that we have to use a variety of methods. But we don't bag anything except the oak leaves, because they are so big our pull behind rake won't pick them up efficiently enough.

I saw something sad today...my neighbor piled up a MOUNTAIN of leaf bags over the weekend--at least 40 bags. The city came and picked them up today, and it appears they just put them in the compactor and send them to the landfill!! What, no compost? I have to find out about that.

Karen