Tag Archives: making leaf mulch

November 16, 2019 · 3:22 pm

A Lot of Worx

 

This is my wonderful Worx Leaf Mulcher. (This one is MUCH cleaner than mine. Picture this with a leaf bag between the orange part and the top ring of the legs, and a cord attached to it and you have a great picture of what I’m doing in the yard this afternoon. I also have two plastic yellow leaf-gathering ‘hands’ that allow me to pick up a bunch of leaves at once to put in the top of the mulcher. Once the leaves are pushed down into the top, I pull the power button out and the mulcher grinds up the leaves. When the bag is full, I pick it up and distribute the mulch in my flower planters.

I told you recently, when I was trying to prune and weed after the freezing temperatures essentially killed all of my blooms, that I have 12 brick planters in the front yard, plus two concrete pots. Ao far, I have finished an hour out there, first using our leaf blower to amass a large pile, then processing the pile and distributing the mulch. I have filled two-and-two-thirds planters. At this rate, I’ll probably croak before I finish, but I’m giving it my best shot today. It’s a bit after 3pm now, so I have a good two hours of light left. I’ll see how much more I can accomplish, and then take it up tomorrow, hoping I don’t get rained out.

I’m certainly not a stickler for a perfect looking yard. That was one of the reasons we built our home in the sticks in Arkansas over 30 years ago. Neighborhoods are nice, but we really don’t want to have to go around with the manicure scissors making sure that no blades of grass are any taller than the others or that we don’t have any weeds or yellow spots in the yard. We have moles, voles, and other oles here, plus fire ants, plus grubs, plus all kinds of other stuff. Our ridge line is woodsy. If we weren’t pretty good about hacking things down around here, I think the woods would simple cover the house and it would look like it did before we came in a short amount of time.

I DO like the idea of ‘free mulch,’ and I DO want to protect my flowers and the good potting soil in our planters, so I’m going to mulch as many leaves as it takes to fill up my planters and then leave whatever remains.

I’ll tell you – even with my leaf blower, my Worx leaf mulcher, my plastic ‘hands,’ etc., this is a really good amount of exercise today for this old broad…

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November 13, 2016 · 2:05 pm

Mulching Mania

worx1

Recently I finished cleaning out our big brick planters – pruning roses, cutting back bushes, weeding, etc.  Today I am finally mulching all the big flower planters.

This is my WORX leaf mulcher. It’s a good system and I made 6 large leaf bags of leaf mulch. I started to actually use it, and decided that it needs to be run through again to make it finer. The mulch I’m making isn’t perfect, but at $3.00 for a small bag at the store, I’m very happy with what I’m making.

I’ve mulched 7 planters so far. I’m taking a water and rest break before starting in again. I’ve used 4 of the 6 large leaf bags. I have 6 planters left to mulch, so I’ll probably need to make more to get the job finished. We’ll see.

I was putting one leaf bag’s worth of leaves through again and suddenly nothing was happening. I managed to take the WORX apart, seeing that the mulching cord was used up. I went to get the expert (my husband) to help me. We found the extra cord we bought and he easily put new cord in. Since I watched him carefully, I’ll be able to do it next time. :0)

The leaf mulching set up we have now is almost perfect – except it makes me sneeze.  I have to admit that about the 50th time I sneezed today, I added some bad words…

I can’t believe the wonderful weather we’re having! It’s a bit chilly if one is just walking around or sitting quietly, but it’s PERFECT if you’re doing something active in the yard. I’m trying to use these rare, glorious days to good advantage. I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday.

 

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November 10, 2016 · 10:57 am

Too Much Yard Work!

LawnService.net

LawnService.net

Every day I’ve been getting out and cleaning out flower beds. I never thought one could have too many flower planters, but this time of the year, it’s a bit too much for this old broad. We built 17 brick planters over the years, mostly when our son was here and able to help with all the work. Some of them are 8 feet long by about two feet wide. Others are 4 feet square. We have them in various places all around the house. ( I finally stopped this post and went around the house counting the planters because the numbers in my mind kept changing)  :0).

We built these because we live on top of a ridge line. There is no ‘soil’ up here. We had to blast with dynamite in order to build the house and put in a septic system. The only soil we have around the house was trucked in. I tried to create ‘beds’ the first couple of years we were here, but it was too much work, even 30 years ago.

We have now converted one 8 foot planter and one square one to square foot garden planters. One is in a nook between the back of the house and the porch. The other is on the east side of the house. We plan to use both of these for growing tomatoes in the spring and summer.

That leaves – 15 planters to clean out, prune back, and then fill with the leaf mulch I’ve made.

I’ve finished 5.

 

planter2

This gives you an idea of what I’m doing.

A couple of planters are ready for mulch. 3 more are about half cleaned out. Several haven’t been touched yet.  I’m hoping that if I can get out there for awhile each day, I’ll finish by the end of the week.

We’re trying to work through our “Getting Ready for Winter” list, too. Some of the stuff is quick and easy. Other things are “it takes two of us,” and some are down right hard. We’ll do a few of those each day, too.

I hope that the weather where you are encourages you to spend time outside. Except for the seemingly endless amount of work involved, I’m loving the cooler weather!

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November 5, 2016 · 3:17 pm

Working My Way Around the Yard

Today I started my fall cleaning out of the flower beds and adding the leaf mulch I’ve been making.  I’ve done 4 out of the 14 brick flower beds we have. I’ve learned that I need to run the leaves through the mulcher another time before putting the stuff in the beds. That’s easy, and doesn’t take a lot of time, since they’ve been through once.

 

mulching-villagenews

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I’m bringing in some last hydrangea that are still pretty, plus some zinnias and some roses. I’ve used two of the six leaf bags of mulch I’ve made.

I was taking a break and my husband came in from the shop, wanting ‘my help’ on his set up for reloading ammunition. What he ACTUALLY wanted was for me to watch him do the reloading cycle, oohing and ahhing over all the steps involved and the precision equipment he has now. It’s an interesting process. I love the set of scales he has. He has a special spoon for each type of ammo that allows him to get really close to the amount he needs. Then there’s another wonderful thing that puts out two or three grains of gunpowder at a time while he watches the scale to get the amount as close to perfect as possible.

Since I oohed and ahhed over his reloading set up, I had him come out to the garden, where I spent three hours cleaning things up and harvesting yesterday, and then out to the front of the house to look at the flower beds I’ve finished so far.

He’s back to loading more ammo, and I’m finishing my break before doing another cleaning-out/pruning/mulching session. The weather today is absolutely perfect for working outside. It’s cool enough that I would need long sleeves or a hoodie to be comfortable just sitting. While I’m working, I couldn’t be more comfortable – unless I were about 50 years younger….

I hope YOU’RE having a wonderful day, too!

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October 25, 2016 · 8:23 pm

A Leaf Mulching Afternoon

Business Insider

Business Insider

This was the way I felt when I finished the afternoon of leaf mulching. When I took my watch off, it looked like I had quite a tan. It was all dirt! I had a thin layer of fine dust all over me and my clothes.

I made three large leaf bags of leaf mulch and stored them in the garage until I’m ready to distribute it. Depending on the weather tomorrow, I’ll try to do some more before it’s due to rain.

 

worx3

Our new system is about as good as it can get. It’s still a lot of work for an old broad. I was really exhausted – even after taking breaks and drinking lots of water – when I finally got everything put away for the day. I got a lot of leaves from the front lawn and the area between the triple flower bed and the driveway. I’ll do another area tomorrow if I get the chance.

I caught my breath and drank more water when I came in, then went up to throw my clothes into the hamper and take a nice, hot shower.  I came down feeling alive again and ready to finish up dinner.

We had a really productive day today. We may get rained out tomorrow, but we have plenty of projects to tackle inside, as well.

I hope your day was a fun one.

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