elhoff

It seems silly to me to put all my leaves out on the curb for the city to collect and compost, then have to buy mulch for my planters.  So I have been looking at buying a leaf shredder lately. I would love to have something to both shred leaves and chip small branches, but those cost a lot of money for one that actually works.  I also hate having a dedicated piece of equipment around that I only use a couple times a year. 

It turns out that the commercially available leaf shredders are just a string trimmer mounted upside-down in a tube/funnel.  I found some plans online for making one from an old string trimmer and a trash can.  Saves the money, but still has the storage problem.

So I had the idea to try putting a bunch of leaves in a tub (muck bucket), and stick my string trimmer in there and whir them around a bit.  Like a giant blender.  It actually works quite well.  It flings a few leaves around your patio (wear a face shield) and can't handle any sticks, rocks, etc.  I wouldn't try it near any windows either.  It takes 3-4 minutes to mulch up a muck bucket full of leaves, which I assume is not fast as these things go, but I already have everything necessary, and don't have to store any dedicated equipment!

So now I have a new solution for my annual leaf piles.  Back to the raking I guess!