I already said that. Gah. (Just teasing...
)
Why is that simpler?
For the record, I'm always being deliberately hardheaded.
As a (hopefully) retiring gardener, here's my real-life recommendation: I have a client who has more leaves than the Smokey Mountains National Forest. I'm pretty sure that every leaf in Gainesville lands somewhere in his yard. I've already been there twice this month, and each time I left a pile on the curb that was 25' long, as high as my waist, and at least 5' wide. Those were the leaves that came out of the tops of the bushes, off his patio, driveway and very small lawn.
We leave (no pun intended) the rest of them--the ones that are beneath the bushes and under the trees. We'll put a layer of pine straw over them in early January.
In summary, all I'm saying is to not strip your beds down to bare dirt. Leave a nice little layer of leaves to hold in moisture, build up your soil, and suppress weeds, and get rid of the rest if it makes you happy. I can't really scold you for it--my sweet father comes and takes care of my leaves for me. (He mulches them and puts them in his vegetable garden and in my beds.)
Poor elgordoboy--all we've done is wag our fingers. Did you figure out whether to bag or not? Around here, the city doesn't require bags during leaf season (until mid-January) but asks us to bag leaves the rest of the year. They'll usually pick them up either way, though, unless they're overloaded with the aftermath of ice storms or tornadoes.
