Mowing lawn with leaves can provide excellent fertilizer
Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry is asking Fort Wayne residents to consider a “green” alternative to the traditional leaf collection this fall: mulching leaves on site in the yard.
Instead of raking all leaves to the park strip for pick-up, City residents can mow through the leaves, leaving them to biodegrade in the lawn and providing extra nutrients for the grass and soil. Turf experts from Purdue and Michigan State have found this to be an effective method for managing leaves.
“If you have a mulching lawn mower and a few trees in your yard, this is something that will probably work for you, yet leave your lawn looking good,” Mayor Henry said. “The fewer leaves our crews have to pick up, the faster they can complete leaf pick-up and the less they have to haul to the City's biosolids field. This benefits your lawn and our resources.”
Brooks Beatty, assistant street commissioner and City resident, has committed to mulching the leaves in his own yard this year.
“I looked at the research and thought this was a time-saving option ' less raking ' for my property while also providing environmental benefits,” Beatty said. “I know this might not work for people with a large volume of leaves, but for most homes, this is a great way to help their lawns at no cost.”
The City of Fort Wayne's leaf collection will start on the city's north side Oct. 27 with two collection cycles instead of three as done in years past. Weather permitting, leaf collection will conclude Dec. 12.
The leaf collection dates for 2008 are:
'¢ North: Oct. 27-31 and Nov. 17-21
'¢ South: Nov. 3-7 and Dec. 1-5
'¢ Central: Nov. 10-14 and Dec. 8-12
'¢ The week of Nov. 24 will be used be to catch up on weather-related delays.
During leaf season, residents can call the leaf hotline at 427-2302 or visit www.cityoffortwayne.org for the day's pick-up locations.
Leaves for pick-up must be raked to the park strip. The street department recommends having them there by the first day of the pick-up week. They should not be raked into street. Burning leaves within the city is illegal, and leaves cannot be placed into the trash.
For pick-up of bagged leaves in biodegradable leaf bags, call the 311 call center starting Oct. 27 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays at either 311 or 427-8311.
For additional leaf pick-up information, click here.
To see the collection map and other information, visit the Street Department's leaf pick-up page.