Last year the Parks department hauled away the big leaf pile from in front of my house. They vacuumed all the leaves off Richard’s boulevard, too.

I was happy about it, but Richard had wanted to keep his leaves.

Instead of grass, Richard has planted his boulevard with drought-tolerant decoratives.

A thick layer of mulch protects against drought in summer, as well as insulating from the cold in winter. Leaves make great mulch, so Richard had intentionally raked his leaves onto the boulevard garden.

I suppose that because most of the perennials had died back for the season, and because Richard had raked the leaves so thickly onto the boulevard, the garden bed was obscured. The vacuum guys must ‘ve thought it was just another curbside pick up.

This year Richard was in his yard when the Parks truck came by. They were thrilled to hear he was making good use of his leaves. Then they asked, “Would you like some more?”

Richard was in heaven! For mulch, leaves are great, but chopped up leaves are superb.

Better still is a big truck delivering them – – free!

It was a win-win.

• The vacuum guys saved themselves a trip across town to unload.
• Richard got free mulch – – 2 big truckloads of it!

A couple of years ago, Richard had a dirt-mart deliver a couple of truckloads of mulch (about the same amount). It cost $800.

I’m told the Parks Department accepts requests for leaves, and are happy to schedule a drop off when they’re vacuuming in the neighbourhood.

Of course, there’s still the chore of moving it all from the driveway & into the beds. That’s a whole lot of wheel barrel trips.

Indeed, a big task is less daunting when shared with friends. It was fun to pitch in. It was also excellent exercise. 🙂

As long as I’ve known Richard as a gardener, he’s never been shy about mulching the beds.  It always looks a little thick to me.

Over a couple months, the heavy rains will compact all that mulch down. The spring bulbs will be shooting through it. I’m really looking forward to seeing that.

But for now, I’m thinking of calling Parks for myself.

Is that crazy?

-30-
© copyright 2012 SVSeekins