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Part of it is because of lawns, if you have a lot of trees the leaves can simply smother your lawn. But even in cities there’s reasons to clean them up. They c

by nkrisc 4y ago

Part of it is because of lawns, if you have a lot of trees the leaves can simply smother your lawn. But even in cities there’s reasons to clean them up. They clog drains, they lump together in the gutter creating blockages that cause large puddles when it rains, they stain the pavement, they decompose on the sidewalk and people track it everywhere in buildings, and more. Maybe you don’t see these as problems that need solving, but people aren’t tidying up leaves just for the fun of it, they have reasons. We’re not simply obsessed with cleaning up leaves.

chrisseaton 4y ago
> Part of it is because of lawns, if you have a lot of trees the leaves can simply smother your lawn. Do you think we don't have trees and lawns in Europe?
- tragictrash 4y ago
  Do you think they think you don't have trees and lawns in Europe? Why are you acting like this is hard to understand?
  - not_a_sw_dork 4y ago
  - feet 4y ago
    Because the statement was framed as a purely american problem
- nkrisc 4y ago
  Of course I don’t think that. What made you think I did? Because I stated something that can happen?
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    Because someone asked 'why do they do this in America when they don't do it in Europe' and your explanation was 'because if you have lawns trees can smother them'. That doesn't make sense as an explanation to the question unless you think having lawns and trees or not is a difference between Americans and Europeans. Otherwise how does it apply?
    - nkrisc 4y ago
      All I stated was that if you have a lawn, it is possible for uncollected leaves to kill or damage parts of your lawn. I don't know why "they" don't do it in Europe, I have no idea where the commenter I replied to is from in Europe. I was just stating one reason why people do it here. Q: "Why do people in America clean leaves off the lawn?" A: "Because it's possible it can damage the lawn if you don't in some circumstances." Simple as that. No idea why people do or do not do it elsewhere.
      - feet 4y ago
        Why would it be any different elsewhere? Plants generally work the same no matter which country you're in.
fat_cantor 4y ago
Everywhere in America that I have lived, their primary use case is landscapers blowing leaves and trash from private property into the street, thereby clogging drains.
- nkrisc 4y ago
  Just because they do that doesn’t mean they’re supposed to.
- wombat-man 4y ago
  uhh, usually they bag them up where I've lived.
- CivBase 4y ago
  As an American, I have only ever seen the opposite. Pretty much everyone where I'm at just mows over the leaves. Blowers mostly used to clear streets and sidewalks. Rakes are sometimes used to collect leaves and burn them, but even that is uncommon. However, I live in the midwest. We don't have as many trees here as the east or west coasts.
  - feet 4y ago
    That's the smart way to go, decomposing leaves fertilize
  - nkrisc 4y ago
    I'm on the East coast and I do mulch leaves with the mower for most of my lawn. However there are parts of the property where we have more trees and where leaves accumulate from being blown by the wind from other parts of the lawn. In those parts the lawn would probably die if I didn't clear the leaves myself. However I also have honeylocust trees which drop loads of these large bean-like seed pods and these stems after the leaves fall which bunch up and can only be best described as like "wads of shaved pubic hair." I also have sweetgum trees which drop these hard, spiky seed pods that I also need to rake up. The mower can turn those into projectiles. Really the best solution, in my case at least, would be to alter the landscaping in that area to something that would be unaffected by the leaves, but I don't have the time for that now. So clear leaves I do.
winReInstall 4y ago
End of season forking them on to a hedgehog heap?
UpstandingUser 4y ago
In some places they're a hazard. They get wet, people slip. Especially cyclists when the leaves get into the bike lane.

by nkrisc 4y ago

chrisseaton 4y ago

> Part of it is because of lawns, if you have a lot of trees the leaves can simply smother your lawn. Do you think we don't have trees and lawns in Europe?

tragictrash 4y ago
Do you think they think you don't have trees and lawns in Europe? Why are you acting like this is hard to understand?
- not_a_sw_dork 4y ago
- feet 4y ago
  Because the statement was framed as a purely american problem
nkrisc 4y ago
Of course I don’t think that. What made you think I did? Because I stated something that can happen?
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  Because someone asked 'why do they do this in America when they don't do it in Europe' and your explanation was 'because if you have lawns trees can smother them'. That doesn't make sense as an explanation to the question unless you think having lawns and trees or not is a difference between Americans and Europeans. Otherwise how does it apply?
  - nkrisc 4y ago
    All I stated was that if you have a lawn, it is possible for uncollected leaves to kill or damage parts of your lawn. I don't know why "they" don't do it in Europe, I have no idea where the commenter I replied to is from in Europe. I was just stating one reason why people do it here. Q: "Why do people in America clean leaves off the lawn?" A: "Because it's possible it can damage the lawn if you don't in some circumstances." Simple as that. No idea why people do or do not do it elsewhere.
    - feet 4y ago
      Why would it be any different elsewhere? Plants generally work the same no matter which country you're in.

fat_cantor 4y ago

Everywhere in America that I have lived, their primary use case is landscapers blowing leaves and trash from private property into the street, thereby clogging drains.

nkrisc 4y ago
Just because they do that doesn’t mean they’re supposed to.
wombat-man 4y ago
uhh, usually they bag them up where I've lived.
CivBase 4y ago
As an American, I have only ever seen the opposite. Pretty much everyone where I'm at just mows over the leaves. Blowers mostly used to clear streets and sidewalks. Rakes are sometimes used to collect leaves and burn them, but even that is uncommon. However, I live in the midwest. We don't have as many trees here as the east or west coasts.
- feet 4y ago
  That's the smart way to go, decomposing leaves fertilize
- nkrisc 4y ago
  I'm on the East coast and I do mulch leaves with the mower for most of my lawn. However there are parts of the property where we have more trees and where leaves accumulate from being blown by the wind from other parts of the lawn. In those parts the lawn would probably die if I didn't clear the leaves myself. However I also have honeylocust trees which drop loads of these large bean-like seed pods and these stems after the leaves fall which bunch up and can only be best described as like "wads of shaved pubic hair." I also have sweetgum trees which drop these hard, spiky seed pods that I also need to rake up. The mower can turn those into projectiles. Really the best solution, in my case at least, would be to alter the landscaping in that area to something that would be unaffected by the leaves, but I don't have the time for that now. So clear leaves I do.

winReInstall 4y ago

End of season forking them on to a hedgehog heap?

UpstandingUser 4y ago

In some places they're a hazard. They get wet, people slip. Especially cyclists when the leaves get into the bike lane.