You can shred 'em by running over them with a lawn mower or by putting them in a big trash can & "stirring" them with a weed eater.

When you apply them to the beds or plants, wet them down.

or...

Go to Starbucks & get "Grounds for the Garden" & mix them with the leaves or add them to the beds/plants on top of the leaves.

Then you'll have not only mulch but compost-in-the-making, which means:

insulation now, richer soil next year, no hauling stuff all over the place!

Best luck & have fun!

I try to target only small, heavy, oval shaped leaves like the ones dropped by live oaks. They don't blow around and they make such a lovely soil amendment.

In my experience, chopped leaves are less likely to blow around in the wind than whole leaves. Just got finished today carting 5 garden carts full of chopped leaves, grass clippings, and pine needles from someone who was nice enough to mow them up and place them by the curb for the garbage people. Awfully nice of some people to make leaf collecting so much easier for those of us who are leaf thieves.

" Awfully nice of some people to make leaf collecting so much easier for those of us who are leaf thieves."

That is so funny! While I was driving by all these bagged leaves on the way to work this morning, I was wondering if DH would mind terribly if I took his truck to work tomorrow to "collect" leaves too!! LOL!

I like to make myself conspicuous when I'm cruising the alleys for leaves:
fine if homeowners think I'm, uh, "eccentric", not fine at all if they think I'm an identity thief, dognapper, or burglar!

So I always put on my flashers, have the radio playing, etc.
If there are dogs in the area, I talk to them in a normal volume voice, & if I see a homeowner or a child, I smile & wave & say, in a cheery & loud voice, "Hi! I'm picking up leaves for my garden!"

I call the city building and ask them to dump a load of leaves off in my yard. They are glad to do it cause it means one less load they have to dispose of. By the time it arrives at my house the load has been packed tightly together and crushed a bit. No need to shred the leaves any further.

Joan in KY