ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) — There's a unique movement sweeping across neighborhoods in our area. It's a campaign that may leave some scratching their heads: the "no rake movement"
Fall clean-up has begun in many neighborhoods across Metro Detroit, with many of you spending several hours during the weekend clearing leafs from your yard.
I spoke with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy about composting, and three homeowners who say keeping the leaves on the ground isn't their lifestyle.
"Once a week," Tom Hobrowski said when asked how often he rakes his leaves. "I'm retired so I can get away with it."
"I have never done it, but that's not saying it's a good thing," said homeowner Rick Trute when asked about participating in the no rake movement.
"What we do is mulch the leafs and bag it," said Howard Rayner.
"It's kind of getting back into nature," said Aaron Hiday with EGLE.
As the Fall foilaige paints our landscapes with vibrant colors and the leaves start hitting the ground, many like the three gentlemen I spoke to in St. Clair Shores grab their mower, blower or their rake for that Fall clean-up of leaves.
"To be honest, it bothers my wife more than it bothers me," Howard said on the leaves in his lawn.
Howard was out cutting his grass and yes, he was also sucking up those leaves instead of leaving them on the grass. However, he uses them for another purpose.
"A lot of times we just put it in the garden," Howard said. "We have a garden in the back of the garage, it's good fertilizer for next Spring."
"There's been a number of these movements over the years," Aaron said.
Aaron with EGLE says he's heard of this no-rake movement, and is encouraging homeowners to try it out.
"Leave them in place because they're going to decompose and be beneficial to your soil saves you from having to rake them up and it's good for your yard," Aaron said.
"That doesn't work for me, that doesn't work for me," Tom said.
St. Clair Shores resident Tom Hobrowski is not a fan of leaving the rake or blower in the garage. He was out with his blower for some afternoon yard work, getting the rest of the leaves off his lawn.
"What if that tree is diseased?" Tom pondered. "The leaves are going to disease your lawn and create a chemical imbalance.
St. Clair Shores, according to their municipal code, does not have an ordinance about removing leaves from your yard.
"They make you cut your grass and shovel snow but say nothing about leaving leaves down," Tom Hobrowski said. "Some people do not on this block."
And for Rick, he was out with his rake enjoying the afternoon.
"It's not that bad, got a big tree in the backyard and that's about it," Rick said.
And when it comes to the No Rake Movement, he would rather mulch.
"It gets messy in the spring," Rick said. "You have to pick it up almost no matter what, it is not going to biodegrade in the winter."
