Saint Paul partners with Ramsey County to provide a place to dispose of leaves and other yard waste. More info here....
And while you're waiting for the leaves to fall, check out this lovely idea: The power of a leaf pile by Jun-Li Wang, St. Paul, MN:
I love raking in the fall. Our street is flanked by fantastic maples that turn brilliant red and orange – children and adults come to collect them, admire them, and take photos. As a child, I lived in Washington state for a few years and had fond memories of jumping into the big leaf mounds my mother had raked up, only to have the mounds bagged and carted away the same day. Later, we lived in California, in a neighborhood where there were ample trees on the boulevard, but the city cleared up the leaf litter – so no more raking, no more piles of leaves.
Here in St. Paul, Minnesota, I have free access to my boulevard trees, and a nice (ok, a little weedy) strip of lawn. In our first fall as homeowners, as my husband and I raked up the leaves, we inevitably ended up horsing around in the pile, eventually ending face up, looking at the final leaves fall from the trees, and the clear blue sky beyond. Neighborhood children joined us and clamored to be buried in the pile. For lack of energy, we left the pile out on the boulevard, to be raked up the following day.
In the morning, as we lazily read the paper, we heard commotion outside. Some of the neighborhood children had come by and were making a ruckus in the leaf pile. The day passed, and the pile remained. Occasionally we would catch a sighting of someone jumping into the pile. Every day or so, I would re-rake it into a good pile. Soon after, we had a little gathering at our house, and all of our friends’ children entertained themselves in the leaves, eventually reappearing for dinner with leaf bits mashed into their hair and clothes, trailing leaf dust about the house. They adored it.
We gave into the lure of the leaf pile. I made a sign that says “JUMP” and an arrow, and installed these across the sidewalk, pointing at the leaf pile. And then we were shocked at how many people listened to our command! We would see serious joggers (all geared up, proper outfits and all) running straight and swift down the block, get to our pile, take a good jump into it, bounce back up, and keep on going. One weekend, a car pulled up, and a man got out with his son, and sheepishly said that they had driven over to play in the leaf pile. (Apparently his son had seen the pile when his nearby nursery school went on a walk, and he asked his dad to bring him back to play.) While we did not see every person who played in the pile, it was always obvious – people-shaped depressions in the pile, a flattened pile, a pile scattered in all directions (that was the neighborhood kids, having a good rowdy leaf fight).
The second year, we left the rake leaning against a nearby tree, and people were very good about reforming the pile into a perfect mound. Sometimes it looked like no-one had touched it for days, but we got good at discerning little shifts in its shape, indicating use. Over time, the leaves became dry, and all the jumping turned the leaves into tiny little pieces – perfect for mulching garden beds!
Now, in the fall, people walk by and ask when the pile will be back. Others have asked if they could “steal” the idea...which is of course half the point. Who wouldn’t love a block that had a leaf pile in front of every house? I myself have half a mind to “steal” leaves from another block, where they have bright yellow ash leaves that fall a few weeks later than my maples, so that I can extend the leaf pile season.
Recipe for an inviting leaf pile
Fall leaves
Rake
Some signage (chalk will do too)
Rake leaves into a pile. Leave rake nearby for people to use (rarely does the rake run away, but don’t put anything out that you couldn’t stand to loose, like grandma’s heirloom rake from the old country). Add signage, arrows, chalked instructions.
Optional – if your pile is really large (and really, bigger is better here), you may want to “move” it a bit every day or two so as not to suffocate your lawn. I start at one end of the boulevard and when I remember, I shift the pile over a foot or two. So over time, the pile moves along the boulevard and the grass lives.
