Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Fairfax County does free vacuum leaf collection as well.

Actually, it's the City of Fairfax that does free vac. leaf collections AND only if you don't have a sidewalk in front of your house (curbside).

Well, we live in Fairfax County (outside the city limits of Fairfax) and we receive free vacuum leaf collection. And yes, we have sidewalks.

We have a sidewalk and COF vacuums up our leaves no problem. It is the highlight of my toddler's day to watch them.
It runs from 11/1 to 12/31.

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Fairfax County does free vacuum leaf collection as well.

Actually, it's the City of Fairfax that does free vac. leaf collections AND only if you don't have a sidewalk in front of your house (curbside).

Because if you dont do something your lawn maintenance in the spring will be a pita.
-a new homeowner in her second fall who didn't rake last year

Please NO leaf blowers! I would much rather have a few tons of leaves migrate onto my lawn than listen to someone's whining leaf blower.

FYI, Fairfax County does free vacuum leaf collection as well.

Anonymous wrote:It seems that they would decompose but obviously everyone collects them and gets rid of them. Why is this? (First time homeowner in the house for our first fall.) Also, do I need to get rid of the leaves that are in the flower beds that are mulched or is it sufficient to just get rid of the leaves on the grass? Also, how much does this cost? Thanks

People get rid of them because grass is more pleasing to look at than a lawnful of fallen leaves.
As has been mentioned, both DC and Montgomery County come around and collect leaves. The DC/MC websites have schedules for when they do pick up. Some parts of DC have already had their first of two leave pickups.

Neighbors will be annoyed if you don't take care of your leaves because -- it looks bad compared to the nice grass on their lawns, and importantly, if you don't pick yours up and they do, at the first windy day leaves from your yard will blow onto the tidy lawns of your neighbors. Thus, good neighbor relations suggests you should rake or blow your leaves to the curb.

If you're in the suburbs or in DC, get a couple rakes and perhaps a leaf blower. Or, any landscaping service will happily come in and give you an estimate to clean out the leaves (they'll either move them to the curb or, for extra money, will take them away). We like Four Feet to the Yard.

As for the flower beds, we often keep a light layer of leaves in the flower beds over the winter in order to provide a "blanket" for our many bulbs and other flowers.

Good luck with being a new homeowner!

You can leave the leaves (no pun intended) in your garden. They are great insulators for the winter plants (such as pansies) during cold nights and frosts.

Anonymous wrote:If you have a really thick layer of leaves, it will kill all the grass underneath. As I found out first hand!

Ditto this.

level not "leel".

Oak leaves take a couple of years to decompose if they are not ground up. They are high in acid and will raise the ph of your soil to a leel that is not conducive to healthy growth of grass. A thick layer of anything that does not allow air to circulate will smother and kill grass and all plants after just 3 or four weeks.

If you have a really thick layer of leaves, it will kill all the grass underneath. As I found out first hand!

The counties vacuum them up for free and then sell them back to you as valuable compost the next year. If you have the space and the inclination, you can make them work for you.

In the lawn, you can mow over them and they will feed your grass very nicely. You can also use them as mulch in the flower beds. Leave them as is if you are trying to kill weeds; mow over them and put them on the beds as smaller bits to feed the soil as they decompose.

In MoCo they vacuum up the leaf piles for free.

We rake/blow leaves off the lawn but have several "wilder" parts of the yard where we pile up some leaves and let them decompose.

Heard this recently on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/28/141761525/want-to-improve-your-lawn-dont-bag-those-leaves

It seems that they would decompose but obviously everyone collects them and gets rid of them. Why is this? (First time homeowner in the house for our first fall.) Also, do I need to get rid of the leaves that are in the flower beds that are mulched or is it sufficient to just get rid of the leaves on the grass? Also, how much does this cost? Thanks