I mulched my leaves this year instead of raking them

[dasherHampton]

I know a guy who's pretty high level on this kind of stuff (not a professional) and according to him leaves should be mulched at least every 2 or 3 years to help fertilize the ground. He does it every year. I didn't know about this.

It certainly beats raking. Instead of the usual two or three days of hard labor it didn't take much longer than regular mowing. My lawnmower mulches very well and disintegrated whatever leaves I mowed over fairly easily. Thankfully I don't have a large amount of trees around my house.

I'm curious how my lawn will look in the Spring, after the inevitable snow melts. If there's no issue with residue everywhere I might start doing it every year.

 

[BoomerD]

I started to rake leaves in my backyard. After 30 minutes, I had mountains of leaves...and was barely started. "Screw this." Got out my Honda mower, 'mulched" the leaves as I mowed... but bagged them and put them in a compost pile.

 

[lxskllr]

I just leave them there. If they get mulched, it's only incidental to making the stupid grass shorter for the last time that year. Whenever you carry away plant detritus, you're carrying away nutrients that should go back to the plants.

 

[dasherHampton]

Never having done this before my only question is "what's the catch?".

Mulching is 10 times less work than raking and transporting leaves. Life doesn't work like that. There's ALWAYS a catch.

But even if I have to go around and rake up a little muck this spring its still worth it.

 

[lxskllr]

Near as I can tell, the only "catch" is the lawn doesn't look like a golf course if you're into that sort of thing. I personally don't care. The only time I've *ever* raked leaves was to create a pile for my daughter to jump in. After that was done, I just kicked them back in the yard again.

 

[highland145]

Well, I learned something new. Thought the oaks were bad for my grass....

Composting Oak Leaves: A Complete Guide

Is composting oak leaves any different than composting other plant material? Are oak leaves acidic? Learn more about composting live oak leaves, mulching oak leaves on your lawn and the benefits of composting so you can keep your lawn healthy.

www.abchomeandcommercial.com

 

[UsandThem]

I own a wooded lot, and the first year I had the kids raking, bagging them, and it was a lost cause. Now I just chop 'em up and late nature do the rest.

I take the lawn mower to the paths around our house, and the entire back yard, and actually did it for the 3rd time this fall yesterday. I probably only have to do it another 4-5 times before calling it a season.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I never even got around to raking them before the snow came. Next year I guess.

Now that I have a truck it will go so much better to get rid of them though. I think I will get some huge Rubbermaid bins and shove them all in there and load them in the truck and just go dump them somewhere. Way faster than bagging. Could maybe experiment with using a hydraulic press to try to compact them so I can do it all in one load.

 

[snoopy7548]

Never having done this before my only question is "what's the catch?".

Mulching is 10 times less work than raking and transporting leaves. Life doesn't work like that. There's ALWAYS a catch.

But even if I have to go around and rake up a little muck this spring its still worth it.

The catch is you can end up with a lot of thatch that needs to be removed after the winter, or else your lawn won't be able to thrive in certain spots.

I get a lot of leaves in my yard so I rake most of them up but mulch the rest, and I never bag my clippings. Before the first snow, I'll usually rake up some of the dead stuff just so I don't have to deal with a total mess when I rake the rest of it up in the spring. I've noticed the less I rake before winter, the more matted-down my lawn is in the spring after the snow has melted, and it's easier to damage the grass when raking.

 

[BoomerD]

My backyard has a lot of shade, do I'm gonna have to do something to kill the moss that's trying to take over. Once I do, I'm bound to have a few bare patches where moss is the only thing green currently. Leaving the leaves on the lawn will only make that problem worse.

 

[mindless1]

I always mulch instead of raking, takes about twice as long as mowing because I go slower and make multiple passes over the densest areas.

This works better if you have a mulching blade and deck, not a side discharge chute so the leaves get cut into smaller particles. I also sharpen my blades right before the bulk of the leaves fall.

 

[Homerboy]

Mulched this year as well. There's been LOTS of "publicity" and articles this year about doing it.
I never rake "clean" to start with. I live in a compact urban neighborhood (1/4 acre lots). Everyone rakes their lawns and flowerbeds to perfect every year. I never have.

 

[highland145]

Mulched this year as well. There's been LOTS of "publicity" and articles this year about doing it.
I never rake "clean" to start with. I live in a compact urban neighborhood (1/4 acre lots). Everyone rakes their lawns and flowerbeds to perfect every year. I never have.

lol you're that guy.

 

[Homerboy]

lol you're that guy.

You mean "that guy" that has to have EVERY leaf off his grass? If so, that is NOT me. Years prior I'd give a cursory rake of the yard. This year I just mulched it all and raked a few nooks and crannies that had a big deep pile of leaves. I'm positive my grass will be healthier/better.

 

[highland145]

You mean "that guy" that has to have EVERY leaf off his grass? If so, that is NOT me. Years prior I'd give a cursory rake of the yard. This year I just mulched it all and raked a few nooks and crannies that had a big deep pile of leaves. I'm positive my grass will be healthier/better.

You're probably right. I've spent a ton of time/effort/$$ and mine looked like crap this year. Should have gone with artificial...if it wasn't so effing expensive.

 

[lxskllr]

If I had money to piss away, I'd cover almost every inch of yard with boulders. I'd have boulders, trees, and ferns, and never waste my time on the yard again.

 

[mindless1]

I just use a blower to dislodge leaves from nooks and crannies, off the driveway, sidewalk, steps, etc too, onto the lawn before mow mulching.

 

[IronWing]

What's a "lawn"?

It rained this year so I did have to do some weed whacking. I have to find a weed whacker string that doesn't leave a trail of plastic line bits all over the yard.

@lxskllr , it takes an astonishing amount of rock to make a yard "rocky". We've had a few big boulders placed by crane plus about thirty pickup loads of small boulders we've moved ourselves and our 1/5 acre lot doesn't look particularly rocky.

 

[lxskllr]

@lxskllr , it takes an astonishing amount of rock to make a yard "rocky". We've had a few big boulders placed by crane plus about thirty pickup loads of small boulders we've moved ourselves and our 1/5 acre lot doesn't look particularly rocky.

Don't I know it. I hand gathered, hand carried a big ass pile of rocks over a year to make a stone patio. That big ass pile wasn't so big one they got laid out. Pation still isn't finished :^/

 

[snoopy7548]

What's a "lawn"?

It rained this year so I did have to do some weed whacking. I have to find a weed whacker string that doesn't leave a trail of plastic line bits all over the yard.

@lxskllr , it takes an astonishing amount of rock to make a yard "rocky". We've had a few big boulders placed by crane plus about thirty pickup loads of small boulders we've moved ourselves and our 1/5 acre lot doesn't look particularly rocky.

Try this stuff. It's very strong and doesn't get quickly chewed up even on rocks.

https://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-639005101-Titanium-Trimmer-095-Inch/dp/B002PNM0JE/ref=asc_df_B002PNM0JE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167146984279&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12189536157021318767&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001856&hvtargid=pla-309649267340&psc=1

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Mulched this year as well. There's been LOTS of "publicity" and articles this year about doing it.


I never rake "clean" to start with. I live in a compact urban neighborhood (1/4 acre lots). Everyone rakes their lawns and flowerbeds to perfect every year. I never have.

I heard of (and started) that practice decades ago. What's old is now new news again, I guess.

But I'm on about three acres of rural land with some pretty good slopes. I ain'ta rakin' nothing I ain'ta' gotta'.

I move some to areas to be tilled in for soil conditioning, but the majority go wherever the wind takes them.

 

[lxskllr]

Try this stuff. It's very strong and doesn't get quickly chewed up even on rocks.

https://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-639005101-Titanium-Trimmer-095-Inch/dp/B002PNM0JE/ref=asc_df_B002PNM0JE/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167146984279&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12189536157021318767&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001856&hvtargid=pla-309649267340&psc=1

I think that came with the string attachment on my brushcutter. I don't really need string, but I had it, so I thought "Why not?". Didn't last very long. I hit it harder than your average homeowner, and my machine is waaay bigger than most, but I wasn't impressed. Can't beat a steel blade if your type of cutting allows it.