Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Mulching leaves isn't a workable alternative
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Lynn Davis
Davis, of Roanoke, served on the state's Urban Forestry Council, Trees Virginia, for many years.
Dwayne D'Ardenne's phone must be ringing off the hook as many city residents realize there will be no loose leaf pick-up this fall, which is the likely reason for the Roanoke street superintendent's commentary, "Try mulching fallen leaves," in The Roanoke Times, Oct. 28, encouraging mulching as the solution.
The budget survey he uses for defense does not give an accurate picture of what citizens want and need. Citizens would like for the city to find a way to restore loose leaf collection.
D'Ardenne obviously does not live in a forested neighborhood where he has tried mulching because he would find it does not work well in such areas -- there are just too many leaves (which is why it is also not practical for some homeowners to bag leaves).
When I tried mulching in the past, I ran into several problems. The leaves were too high for the mulch mower to handle, and I finally had to stop and go back to the only viable way of raking the leaves onto a tarp and dragging them to the curb.
That trial attempt nearly killed my grass; it took almost two years for the ground to absorb the leaves that had been mulched, not to mention that leaf litter got tracked into the house forever. Many yards in our mountainous region have notoriously thin soils that absorb very little, and leaves from some tree species break down more slowly than others.
A soil scientist at Virginia Tech told me it would take decades for mulching to build up any discernible soil addition.
Until D'Ardenne can cite a mulching study that replicates the conditions that Roanoke homeowners face, there are too many variables for the studies he cites to apply to us. One of the studies even says the data "was not conclusive." Mulch mowers cannot handle many leaves, so a homeowner is faced with a big expense for a mulching tractor or riding mower.
An additional problem is the enormous dust created by mulching; that is a major human health concern.
Trees don't just provide the homeowner with benefits. They do many services for the city -- moderating climate, improving air quality, conserving water, mitigating storm water runoff, reducing erosion, saving energy, reducing heating and cooling costs, increasing economic stability and reducing noise pollution.
In return for those "free" services, the city certainly ought be able to pick up leaves that citizens take to the curb because that is the only viable, practical option they have.
