"Warren" wrote:
Srgnt Billko wrote:

That caught my attention. Why avoid mulching while wet ? They break
down quicker when wet. When I used to use a shredder I kept a hose
going continuously on the output.

The key here is you kept the _output_ wet. If the leaves are wet before
you try to shred them, they don't shread as well.

Also, whether or not it's suitable to just shred and leave them on the
lawn depends on how many of them there are. I vac and shred the leaves
from my biggest tree, and they produce a pile of shredded leaves that's
10'x10', and about 9" deep. The area that they fall in is about three
times that area, but that would still mean I'd have a 3" layer of
shredded leaves covering that part of my lawn. If all I did was run the
mulching mower over them, by the mid-point of leaf season I wouldn't have
the strength to push the mower through the remains, and it would probably
stall-out, anyway.

On the other hand, in my back yard I have a lot of smaller trees, and it
does just fine with the mulching mower.

Now if someone thinks I'm exaggerating, next fall they're welcome to come
over and demonstrate how a mulching mower would be enough on my front
lawn, as long as they're willing to post a bond large enough for me to
have the damage repaired in the spring.

Hi Warren.

I have 14 big tree canopy's over my immediate lawn, there's no flippin' way
I could consider mulching all those leaves where they fall down. It would
destroy the turf in one season.

These general questions are tough to answer with one size fits all.