Here they are a treasure, we use them in several ways
A.During winter I use them insulate my compost piles allowing my worms and other microbes to work thru the coldest weather to create humus for the use in springtime. Before winter I bring in both horse manure and waste straw from a local horse barn to create huge tillable piles and cover them with a sprinkling of River sand to accelerate digestion by earthworms. Then I cover the entire pile with a couple feet of leaves. In spring after about three tillings with my tiller itās ready for use with the majority of weed seed digested by the heat of the pile.
B. In springtime I use some of my leaf residue to help compost all lawn clippings. A 50/50 ratio balances the carbon to nitrogen ration so I get a perfect compost to mulch the garden and trees we grow. A third benefit is the leaves I import always brings pests like slugs so in springtime I rise early to collect them to turn them back into biomass with just a few teaspoons of 3-15!
C. I renew the leaf layer around my mature apple trees each fall. This area is mostly covered with clover, as the leaves break down they form a mulch layer where the clover is shaded out, so during summer this greatly reduces my water budget and irrigation demand
Dennis
Kent wa
I think i read somewhere that if you bag them and poke holes in it to breathe and put them awayā¦they will make leaf mould (leafmold) on their ownā¦then at a later date spread that onto whatever you choose.
As far as why most people bag them? Once they go in those black bags they are trash. Whatever is in humans to want their yard a certain way and to look a certain wayā¦leaves arent a part of that. I think if as a child you are made to rake leavesā¦something is wired into the brain that you are supposed to when you are an adult? Then there is the what will the neighbors think situationā¦ if one neighbor rakes leaves then if you dont you feel guilt? shame?
Maybe its control? maybe we want the green grass with no weeds and no leaves and cut a certain length?
It is part of the human condition for sureā¦ along with armor all on the tiresā¦
Dont think like that myself. I do care about being respectful of what others think.
i blow alot of them off the grass and under my trees and bushes. just adds to the mulch layer. do the same with grass clippings.
I intend to take black garbage bags of them to insulate my figs for the winter as shown by @eboone. Apparently our neighbors are very interested in bagging free mulch for us.
So in a sense the trash IS the treasure for us?
I picked up bags of leaves from my neighbors and return the bags so they donāt have to buy more bags. Everyone is happy.
Treasure for me. I grew up in a town where they would literally stop with a ruler if your grass looked taller than the ordinance. āItās 0.25ā over, call the sherriff." So, as an adult, Iāve pretty much always lives somewhere where if I let it go 2ā tall, no one will care. So, leaves? Treasure for sure. As are the dandelions, plaintains, oxalis, chicory, fleabane, assorted flox, goldenrods, violets, clovers; maybe not the ragweeds.
I think where you might want to reconsider leaving them is if you are having to treat for something hard to remove. The prunings and leaves from those trees can go elsewhere, hopefully to a large enough compost pile that the heat inside can kill off everything.
Earth worms not only love leaves but also love cardboard box/paper. I let fall leaves lay as-is, and add a sheet of cardboard box/ Amazon shippingbox/ junk mail/any paper products to places around the tree trunk. It reduces waste to the garbage piles, also feeds worms to improve the soil structure, increase the beneficial fungus to grow. Another thing, it also block the weeds.
Not one leaf has left my property for the last 20 years, and my trees canāt thank enough for thatā¦
Not quite literally true- many leave and arrive via the wind. That is the weirdest thing about the leaf rodeo, the continuing removal for a pristine lawn that is defied every time the wind picks up.
IMO the best way to protect a lawn is to stop mowing it in Sept (in the northeast) and letting the grass develop deep roots that coincide with high tops. This also helps prevent leaf buildup from damaging lawns. Then, one day in early spring, I do a single leaf removal to the compost pile with a hand rake- and only for the grass next to my house. The leaves can stay where they are in most of my property that is mostly orchard and nursery.
Sounds like a plan.
For those interestedā¦ maybe this year try making leaf mold. I did by accident and i think i am going to do it again.
The process uses fungus instead of bacteria to decompose the leaves.
"leaf mold can hold up to 500 times its own weight in water it makes an excellent mulch. Leaf mold also opens up the soil and acts as a natural soil conditioner. "
The spouse bought a new mower this spring and he had a hard time finding one with mulching capacity. Apparently it is no longer the Thing
I took an old license plate and a couple of self-tapping screws and closed off the discharge on my old push mower, and that does help. Makes something of a mess but chips up leaves pretty, OK, fairly well.
Iām not sure what our plan is, but we need to decide fast. Ticks in the leaves are much worse than they were all summer and thatās a primary concern with finding them on our dogs and us every time weāre out since leaf drop started in earnest (just set a bunch of tick tubes that I hope help). We have a lot of mature trees. This is our first fall in a new home without the rules of the suburbs so the sky is the limit. Iām thinking of leaving them in the front where we donāt go much under big sugar maples and blowing them out of our most frequented areas for walks into the orchard site and existing trees like the pawpaw stand. Armed with only a leaf blower itās tempting to hire out the task, though. I think the leaves are treasure for sure.
so whatās the difference between leaf mold vs leaf compost? sounds identical to me.
i get as much as I want for free from local golf resort, they have 3 to 5 giant windrows of it at any given time. There is a guy that delivers 8 yards of it for $120 as well. I used to drive around collecting bagged leaves, LOL not anymore way less work to just shovel it into some plastic boxes. They will even load for free every friday.
What about switching up the blades to mulching blades? Itās worked well.
I live surrounded by trees on all four sides. There are indeed leaves all over the place. You are telling me Iām supposed to pick them up? 
I guess this is one of the good thing about being in an area with strong winds. Eventually the ones on the flat areas are blown away and they go get stuck on the forest where they belong.