Arrrgh!!!

Raking is something that I'll leave to you and your DH, Buffy. I don't last long at it. Instead of raking the leaves off of the lawn, I mulch-mow them--at least weekly. The leaves that fall in the planting beds just stay there--until the next time I spade that particular dab of ground. You are far to energetic for me!

Dear Husband doesn't mow frequently enough to mulch the leaves into the lawn. He waits until a lot of the leaves are down, and mows them, and collects them for the do-it-yourself-Mother-Nature compost pile. Then we end up raking the rest on horribly cold, not-quite-frozen nose dripping days. I tend not to mulch with unmowed leaves because they compact when wet and do more harm than good over plants.

I'm not so energetic....I just can't get DH to change.

I think the experts are alarmists. They are probably the same people who think that the only way to wash one's hands is with a germicidal soap. I've always used fallen tree leaves over planting beds and have never had a problem. (And I believe that proper washing of hands requires water, friction between ones hands, and an appropriate amount of time spent at the task. We don't really "need" soap at all--but, of course, I use it!)

Buffy--You have many more tree leaves than do we. Most of the trees on our property are in the woods along the creek; and, they are (mostly) well away from our lawn/planting areas. The small sugar maple and gingko trees in the front lawn are still hanging onto their leaves. It is the large cottonwood tree, at the edge of the back lawn, that contributes most of the leaves that fall on our lawn. The wind takes the leaves into the planting areas.

Cop Car, I've read the same things about using leaves that Adele has, and it's not recent info. They are concerned about the leaves compacting and holding water around the crowns of the plants, and thus encouraging rot and disease early in the spring. I think if you mow over the leaves first, you can use them. I protect roses by hilling up dirt over the graft, and then surrounding the rose with a ring of something similar to chicken wire. Then, I fill in around the branches with layers of mowed leaves. They provide the insulation without becoming so compacted.

Still....it's a long project out in the cold.

Ah, Kitty, you spoil your plants. My plants get the leaves as the leaves fall. As to the roses...at some point I pour a bit of cedar mulch over them and forget them. My plants must have a survival instinct if they wish to live in my yard! *grinning*

You're in a warmer zone than I am, Cop Car. You can get away with that!

You are probably correct. As we are in Zone 6, I expect everyone to be in Zone 6. That is called being parochial, isn't it?

(side note....I found the offender and deleted it, CC). Yeah...we're in zone 5. I find the same thing happens on the herb list. We all speak from our experiences, so we've had to learn to post our zone at the bottom of the entry.

I only use mulch that Mother Nature provides - leaves, and the plant's own parts.

The one exception is when I am overwintering potted plants, I provide straw piled high over them, other than that, plants are on their own.

My roses got cedar mulch about 4 years ago (1-2" thick, to keep weeds down), next summer it will be time to do it again. However, I don't have any grafted roses, so they may be a lot tougher. (On the other hand, I don't mulch any of my grafted trees, so that may or may not apply).

I use straw in several places...Over the daylilies along the south side of the house, and in a thicker pile over the ferns that grow on the north side. I move the pots into the garage for the winter. Actually, they need to be moved before Thanksgiving. I winter about eights pots in an unheated garage. The rest, except for the rose, is on it's own!

Yeah....It's time for more mulching here, too.