The Great Leaf Removal

Sooo last weekend we set our sights on removing the plethora of leaves that had taken over our front yard. We had an enthusiastic volunteer at our side to help with the project (thanks Stephanie) who brought a leaf blower, rake, broom, and shovel for the big project. When we arrived, her first words were, "Wow, those ARE a lot of leaves." Yep, we weren't exaggerating.

Luckily, a mysterious kind soul had already cleaned up our sidewalk and most of our driveway so that part was already done for us (too bad though, it's the easiest part to do).

Exhibit A: You can only see leaves on the front yard, no dirt.

Off to work we went on cleaning up the leaves - I started with the rake, Stephanie started with the leaf blower, and CJ went to the backyard to continue the brick removal. We soon realized that this project was much more difficult than anticipated. The bark on our front yard had become one in the same with the leaves. Want to remove some leaves? Sure. Only if you also remove the bark.

This is in the beginning of the cleanup.

After working on it for several years hours, we gave up. There was no hope in us getting all the leaves off unless we wanted to remove all of the dirt from the front yard. Today, we called a gardener and scheduled regular visits.

Our pile of dirt/leaves

We're happy to do other gardening in the backyard like remove weeds, plant flowers, or anything of that sort but no longer are we willing to attempt cleaning the leaves off the front yard.

We're considering putting grass on the front yard (in a few months, of course) which will make the leaves easier to clean up. Otherwise, we'll have to keep refilling the front yard with bark because there's no way to avoid losing it when leaves are removed. Our gardener suggested gravel as a second option but that doesn't make for a welcoming front yard, in my opinion.

What do you love/hate doing in your yard?