"Travis M." wrote:
Steveo wrote:
"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.

How do you even get a lawn to grow with that much shade?

Lawn grows well, it's a big lawn so the shade is not as bad as it sounds,
and it has automatic irrigation.

The leaves -alone- would ruin it if I attempted to mulch all of them back
in.

YMMV

"Steveo" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I routinely mow up as many leaves as possible with my mulching mower
instead of removing them by other means. Never had a problem. I check
soil PH every few years and haven't seen any diff either. Mulching
them that way is conveneient and beneficial to the soil and lawn, as
long as you don't mulch too much at one time.

That's all well and good as long as he has kept up with his fallen leaves
so far, but if he hasn't cleaned up his leaves until now (Dec 4) he's
asking for trouble by not doing the required yard clean-up first, if he
has
substantial leaves.

--
http://NewsReader.Com/

Then take all the leaves to the burn pit. The remnants from this, the ink
in the burnt paper and cardboard, et al will all mix up and keep some other
type of foliage happy.

Or do a one time this season all leaves mulched at once. The grass will
adjust to the PH change, if it exists. Then readjust as mulching is done
more often.

The leaves will all go someplace and decay someplace. Its better now than
in some plastic bag a thousand years from now in a burial pit for community
trash.
--
Jonny

"Jim" wrote:

Then take all the leaves to the burn pit.

Why kill the ozone layer and loose the valuable resource of good organic
matter, when all you have to do is let them rot to get the best of all
worlds.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

Sense high density factor. The glib you quoted was from a sentence meant as
sarcasm.

--
Jonny
"Stephen Henning" wrote in message
news
"Jim" wrote:

Then take all the leaves to the burn pit.

Why kill the ozone layer and loose the valuable resource of good organic
matter, when all you have to do is let them rot to get the best of all
worlds.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

"Srgnt Billko" wrote in message
...

"Jim" wrote in message
link.net...
There's usually no problem mulching leaves or other plant material. As
long
as its mulched fine enough to breakdown quickly. Avoid mulching during
wet
or damp conditions.


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. Do you cover your compost pile to keep it dry
?
A dry pile of mulched leaves will take a long time to cook - a wet pile
will
produce heat in 48 hours.

I think that the main reason for not mowing up leaves when wet is that they
just lay there all wet all uncooperatively and do not pick up and be cut up
and mulched or thrown around. Lazy wet leaves.... I try to double cut them
by sending them inside my circle of cut and then once in a while turning
around and sending them outward. Seems to work OK that way. I do this when
it is dry.
Tomes