More sun or more shade?

[SagaLore]

My house is surrounded by long needle pines and tall oak trees.

Fortunately most of the pines aren't on my property, so I only get some of the needle fall in one spot. But the oak leaves smother my front and back yard every year and are a PAIN to clean up. I can't leave them there because they don't rot. They just form a mat that kills off everything. The acorns do start to rot and mess up the ph of the soil.

So my first thought was to remove more trees, but my community is dense with oaks, and I don't want to be the oddball with a naked yard. I was thinking, to help with maintenance, I could remove a few oak trees, but then plant something else that would provide good shade within a few years. Maybe maples?

So do I go with more sun, or more shade? The spotty shade I have now makes it hard to consistently grow grasses, but some spots get too much sun which combined with the clay soil attract a lot of weeds.

 

[Azraele]

That's hard to gauge without knowing your yard layout, the ecology of your area, etc. Also, you wouldn't want to kill a tree and then plant a new one and end up with the same problem. I'm not a tree expert, but I have to rake my yard every fall because, while the leaves will compost eventually, they pileup fast and decompose slowly so that raking becomes necessary to maintain a nice looking yard (front anyway, I just let them be in the back and they're gone by spring). If the cleanup is too much inconvenience, I'd recommend not getting another tree unless it is an evergreen of some sort.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm fat and hairy, so I'd prefer the shade. Also it means slightly less money on A/C during the summer. And a little bit of privacy (not that I need extra privacy or anything, if I wanna fuck a french maid on the terrace I'll god damn do it).