Can you mow leaves

Mulched lawns green up faster in spring, with less fertilizer needed. Researchers at MSU suggested using a rotary mower that pulverizes leaves well, such as a mulching mower or a mower with the discharge opening covered, and with the mower height adjusted to a high setting. Leaves should be dry and mowed slowly with a sharp blade to grind leaves fine. If leaves are still in large pieces, go over the lawn again at right angles to the first pass.

The optimum time to mulch the leaves is when you can still see some green grass through the fallen leaves, rather than letting the leaves gather too thickly. Pulverized leaves will filter into the lawn, adding nutrients, conserving moisture and reducing weeds.

Forum file photo. If leaves accumulate in a layer too thick to mulch, an option is to rotate by raking or bagging one week, then mulching the next. Allowing leaves to decompose in place ultimately enhances the soil beneath your lawn, adding organic matter, which leads to a healthier, thicker lawn. Thick, leathery leaves won't decompose as well and should be gathered with a bagger attachment and added to a compost pile or used as mulch.

Downsizing the Pile If you need to gather leaves and set them out for community yard waste pickup, plan to reduce leaf volume — and the number of yard waste bags you need to use. Use a leaf vacuum with a shredder feature to chop leaves, or mow over them and use the grass catcher attachment on your mower to capture leaf bits.

If the product has a reduction ratio, that means it converts 10 bags' worth of unchopped leaves into one bag. For small areas, a handheld leaf vac works well.

To deal with a large lawn, you might want to rely on a mower with a grass catcher to gather chopped leaves. Prep for garden clean up in the fall. This checklist highlights garden chores to tackle in fall, and rewards you with a shorter to-do list Treat and Kill Lawn Weeds in the Fall.

Mow the leaf piles and allow them to fall onto the turf. Mowing leaves the first time over with the bagger results in the leaves being sucked into the bagger and not being shredded. Without the bag the leaves are chopped into smaller pieces. It is alright if during this pass the fragments cover the lawn.

The second pass will be made with the bagging attachment in place. The chopped leaves will now be sucked into the bag were they take up considerable less space because of their smaller size. The volume of leaves collected will be decreased two- to four-fold. This means you have to physically handle less leaves. Chopped leaves as garden mulch The good news is these collected twice-mown leaves are an excellent source of mulch for the landscape.

Chopped leaves can be spread around trees, shrubs and gardens to help conserve moisture and control weed growth. Keep yard waste from entering our ponds and streams The worst way to manage fall leaves is to rake, sweep or blow the fallen leaves out into the street.

Leaves that end up on the streets can clog storm drains. These leaves eventually work their way into our streams. As they breakdown they release nutrients which contribute to lower water quality, cause algae blooms which can lead to fish kills and unpleasant views of nature.

This is a major problem for many of our neighborhood ponds. Many sub-divisions have bodies of water they manage at great expense to each homeowner. The organic matter from fallen leaves and grass clippings is a leading contributor to the algae issues which result in expensive chemical treatments to control.

Good Nature is an Organic Lawn Care company dedicated to providing you with the best services and information to have a healthy, chemical-free lawn and landscape. Call Us. Good Nature Blog. Run your mower over the leaves a few times to chop them into small pieces. Lightly rake the chopped leaves into a pile, smaller in size than if you were raking leaves that hadn't been mowed.