Wind and rain do their bit
Hello, November. Wind and rain have done their best to mess with us Friday morning. My street has gone from autumn to near-winter in a day. Lots of folks have lost power and there’s been some flooding in underpasses.
More: CTV says we’re being asked not to call 911 for residential damage, which apparently some people have been doing. They also have photos and videos of storm effects and TVA has video of a flooded underpass in Hochelaga. October beat a record for rainfall here, too.
The video CTV has showing the shattered bus shelter is quite startling. I was standing under one a few hours ago and feeling it being pushed and pulled this way and that by the wind.
Blork 09:49 on 2019-11-01 Permalink
The wind has come a few days too late for me. On a good year, we get a wind storm in late October that blows all the leaves from my two maple trees all over the neighbourhood. On a bad year we get rainstorms, and the rain knocks the leaves straight down into my yard. This year it was rain. #owmyachingback
CE 10:59 on 2019-11-01 Permalink
Why not just leave the leaves on the yard and let them become mulch for the grass? It’s also supposed to be good for insects, birds, and tree roots (and will save your back).
Kate 12:19 on 2019-11-01 Permalink
CE, do you know if there’s any point in letting leaves pile onto an area with concrete flagging rather than dirt or grass?
CE 12:41 on 2019-11-01 Permalink
I’m not an expert but from what I’ve read, any leaf debris left in the winter can be used by insects to find shelter which is then good for birds who have limited food sources in the winter. Birds and small mammals may also use the leaves for shelter. So if you want to have more biodiversity around you, it might be better to rake up the leaves in the spring rather than the fall.
When I lived in a house with a lawn, I used to just mow over the leaves in the fall and spring and let them decompose. Much easier than raking them and better for the lawn.
Blork 13:41 on 2019-11-01 Permalink
CE, it’s a matter of quantity. When there are so many leaves that you can’t even see the grass it ends up killing the grass. We’re talking a solid carpet of leaves at least 10 leaves thick across the whole yard. That said, we don’t clean it up as thoroughly as we used to; we do leave a fair bit behind, but there’s way too much to leave it all there.
Kevin 15:56 on 2019-11-01 Permalink
Leaves on concrete make for a slippery mess.
Leaves (probably mulched) can be good in your garden but too much will kill your grass.
Kate 08:54 on 2019-11-02 Permalink
Kevin, I would clear the leaves off the walkway but the other space around where I live is paved with concrete blocks and leaves pile up there. I’ve tidied them away generally since living here but now that I read about them being of value I may pile ’em there till next spring.
Tee Owe 12:41 on 2019-11-02 Permalink
Leaves on the lawn, walkway or sidewalk get raked and go to the city composter (I live in a city that gives everyone a free load of compost in Spring). Leaves on grow beds/non-lawn or walkways, can stay and rot = mulch.
Blork 18:26 on 2019-11-02 Permalink
The wind not only knocked out my power for 31 hours but it seems to have blown some of the leaves away from my yard. Today I filled 12 of those paper composting bags and that pretty much does it. That’s about 50% less than some previous years, but we were also less thorough this year, on purpose.