For
many years, I have been amused by people who rake and bag (or burn)
yard leaves. They spend money on fertilizer for their yard (that isn't
even properly used by the plants). Then they get rid off the world's
best organic mulch by not utilizing leaves. Thus, they hamper the build
up of humus in the soil and perpetuate a cycle of foolishness.
Note:
Buy a "leaf blower-vacuum" and instead of using the leaf blower
function to blow leaves, reverse the air flow and vacuum the leaves out
of your flower beds into the catch bag from non-lawn areas. Dump the
now shredded leaves into a leaf composter and use as flower bed mulch in
winterizing them next year.
I use a movable wire composter: