Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Depends on how many leaves we're talking about!
In my backyard, that strategy works great. In my front yard, there are so many leaves that even if I ran the mulching mower over and over again, I'd still have a layer so thick it would suppress the grass. Exactly, if there is a lot of leaves, mulching alone will still leave a layer of mulch leaves on the grass; they just cannot decompose fast enough -- not good. I will use my mower to "bag" the leaves. My Honda mower will mulch the leaves to small pieces despite the fact that I set it up for bagging not mulching. Then, I dump the whole bag of mulched leaves into my compost pipes. I will mulch agin (instead of bagging) if there is only small amount of leaves or if I am mowing the lawn. Moreover, using a self-propelled lawn mower is MUCH easier than using a leaves-rack. I would much rather to get my exercises through other means. I remember my old JD lawn mower cannot cut the leaves into small pieces if I use it in bagging mode. Somehow my Honda can do this in bagging mode. This must have to do with the fact that the Honda lawn mower has 4 cutting blades instead of just two. In the front yard I use a leaf vac - a big one that looks like a lawn mower from a distance. The bag holds almost 2 cubic feet of shredded leaves, and I'll get two bag-fulls twice a week from less than 400 sq ft of lawn. No way I could leave that much on the lawn! I dump about half of it on my vegetable garden, toss some manure on it, cover it with a tarp, and till it all in come spring. I also have a leaf-vac. Unfortunately, it is not a self-propelled version, and pushing (actually is pulling) a leaf-vac over the lawn is not easy. Therefore, I stick with using the self-propelled lawn mower to bag the leaves from the lawn (this also can cut the leaves into small pieces). Now, I only use the leaf-vac on flat surface, such as the drive way and the curb. I might have used the lawn mower to take care of leaves on flat surface in the future; but the leaf-vac "seems" to do a better job in sucking leaves from flat surface, and I can use it to shred fallen tree branches along the way. When the leaf vac dies, I may use the lawn mower to take care of everything. If you have a self-propelled leaf vac, you will have the best of both worlds. Jay Chan |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Riding Mower, Mulching Blade and Leaves Question | Lawns | |||
Mulching Leaves Safe for Soil pH? | Gardening | |||
Mulching Leaves Safe for Soil pH? | Lawns | |||
How to Make a Lawn Mower into Mulching Mower? | Gardening | |||
gum leaves mulching and fast break down | Australia |