The Seeds, How They Drift!

          We're caught in drifts of Maple seeds!

          They drop like cascades of spiraling snowflakes each year in late May, and they're a truly beautiful, efficient and insidious design.

          We used to call them "helicopters."  They're fun to watch as they spin down their mostly vertical propagation trail from tree to earth.  Millions of them.

          Yes, I'm certain there are millions.   I counted for a minute then multiplied.

          Anyway, they collect in the strangest places, mostly in the fresh mulch we spread around the bases of trees and shrubs where they sprout. 

          In rain gutters where they sprout.

          And in the cracks between boards on our deck.

          Where they sprout.

          The only way to clean the deck (which I power washed in preparation for a coat of sealer) is to pry them out with a putty knife and compressed air (it takes a long hose and knee pads).

          The only way to clean the mulched areas is by pulling the little sprouts, one at a time, and dropping them into a bag. 

          So this year I decided to outwait the little whirling dervishes by delaying springtime mulch spreading by about a month.  After the whirlybird "fall"  I used the leaf blower to blast them away from the bases of trees and shrubs.  I learned the hard way that I can't use the leaf blower on mulch.

          Stupid move, but that was years ago and far away.

          So long as the seeds bed down in the lawn grass they're no problem because they get a clipping each week and soon give up.

          We just have to be very careful to always aim the mower discharge away from the mulched trees.

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