CITY'S LEAF PICKUP GOES WELL, BUT FUTURE IS QUESTIONABLE

Cape Girardeau's curbside leaf pickup program went well in its first week, but that could change.

The four, specially equipped trucks that haul off leaves are pushing 30 years, and no guarantees exist that the fields where leaves are spread now will be available next year, said Tim Gramling, assistant public works director for the city."It has just been one of those things that has worked itself out year to year," Gramling said. "We've been lucky."Residents have been raking their leaves to curbs since the 1960s, when the program started. The trucks used for hauling leaves have been running for about the same length of time.

The age of the trucks is a chief factor in the city only using them once a year for leaf hauling, Gramling said. "The biggest challenge we face is keeping the equipment running," he said.

Along with possible bad weather in mid-December, when leaf pickups are scheduled to end, equipment problems decide whether crews can make additional trips, he said. Some residents on streets that are serviced early complain of large amounts of leaves accumulating after the trucks' initial visits, he said. This happens because some trees are on slightly different schedules of dropping their leaves, said Rocky Hayes, urban forester with the Missouri Conservation Department. He has seen red maples that have dropped 80 percent of their leaves, while pin oaks may have lost only 20 percent.

Trees generally start losing leaves as the days grow shorter, he said. "The process is triggered by light, so they start to fall as the photosynthesis process shuts down," he said.

Extended dry weather usually causes trees to drop leaves two or three weeks sooner, Hayes said.

After its old equipment, the next problem the city faces is space. An open, level spot is needed to spread the leaves so that they can work themselves into the soil or be turned in by a tractor's disc blades, Gramling said. For the past three years a property owner on Cape Girardeau's west side has allowed the city to spread leaves on his property, but that probably won't continue, Gramling said."The land that we have available to us is getting used up," he said. "People don't want to leave property open for a long time, and this area that we've been using is likely to be developed."Although Gramling said participation in the program is good, he would just as soon see more residents mulch their leaves. Dumping tons of leaves in one spot every year saturates the ground with nutrients, which can wear it out, he said. Mulching also eliminates the need to burn leaves, which ultimately gives cleaner air, he said.

Although mulching can result in too much thatch, which can be harmful to grass, it benefits the trees that dropped the leaves, Hayes said."From a standpoint of tree health, I like it," he said. "I mulch my leaves over several weeks."