Mulch those leaves!

[muncybob]

Been mulching mine for years too. With dogs using the yard for unowhat I've always spread lime in the spring or fall...seems to work just fine. I think my low maintenance grass looks a lot better than my dad's chemically dependant and leaf removed grass.... and I think our grass survives the dry summer months better too!

a little off subject but:
Just to make a little more work for myself I'm experimenting with an area that also gets corn gluten meal spread early spring before the annual weeds sprout to see if I can better control crabgrass, etc. Jury is out on the weed control aspect as I've only done it once so far...but that grass is thicker and more green than non applied areas.(I know, there goes the low maintenance I just spoke of!...but at least it's all natural stuff).

 

[woodbooga]

i wait untill the leafs get wet mulch up easier with mower

Really? I find that the weightier wet leaves don't get sucked into the blades as easily.

 

[Coldfront]

I used to rake but gave it up, now I just hope the wind blows most of them back to the edge of the woods. If I need to rake some of the heavy spots I do it in the spring while the grass is still dormant. Why bother in the fall they will be covered by snow soon anyway.

 

[Jkebxjunke]

rake leaves? whats this rake leaves thing... I just usually mow one last time when most of the leaves are down ... and thats it... i ve had no luck at killing the grass yet......

 

[sredlin]

I refuse to waste time, energy, gas etc dealing with leaves

 

[woodbooga]

Wait a minute!

Isn't this a firewood forum? Why on earth are there still any trees left standing so close to home?

Get off that computer and get cutting

 

[Coldfront]

Isn't this a firewood forum? Why on earth are there still any trees left standing so close to home?

No kidding if I want to look at trees I can look across the street, I don't need any trees in my yard if I had my way, the wife thinks different, and you want to talk about raking I hate pine trees in the yard, you can rake pine needles never ending until the cows come home, pine needles and little sticks.

 

[Mike Van]

As much as I HATE doing the leaves, I wouldn't trade that summertime shade for anything. Be pretty hard to make syrup if I cut all the trees down too -

 

[Coldfront]

It's pretty hard to make syrup out of pine tree's.

 

[sredlin]

hard to make syrup out of pine not really----- just tastes like sh__!

 

[Octane]

Really? I find that the weightier wet leaves don't get sucked into the blades as easily.

Not to mention that wet leaves stick the deck and eventually plug it up. You never want to mulch when its wet.

 

[lon]

I have two acres of oaks that are a leaf pain also. Has anyone ever tried one of those large vac and mulch machines that you pull behind your mower? If so, what kind of a job do they do? Thanks.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Free fertilizer!

Heck yeah, been choppin' up with the push mower for years; Mother Nature's free fertilizer! Unless they get too thick, then we bag 'em and truck 'em down to the compost site (just did this tonight) but yeah I chop 'em with the old push mower.

 

[stihlaficionado]

Mulch & bag, most goes to the free fall pick-up by the city. Some however gets mulched then put in garden. Mulching sure does increase the amount of leaves that can be put in bags for pick-up

 

[Wood Doctor]

Mulch & bag, most goes to the free fall pick-up by the city. Some however gets mulched then put in garden. Mulching sure does increase the amount of leaves that can be put in bags for pick-up

+1! That's about what I do because I collect the equivalent of about fifty 30-gallon bags or barrels of unmulched leaves. I mulch them with my Honda mower or blower-vac down to 18, I give most of those to the city. The city then processess them into organic fertlizer.

I save the rest for my vegetable and flower gardens.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Gotta mulch them more often then, sometimes even two or three times a week when they are really coming down. If they are balling up in front of the deck, raise the deck and back up a bit, and attack the pile from another angle until it is gone. Once an area is mulched, go over it again perpendicular to the first time you went over it, and you'll really grind them up good. Keep your blades sharp, dull blades don't mulch worth a crap. The nice thing about mulching is all the nutrients of the leaves go right back into the grass, and they will not blow back in a strong wind, once they are mulched they will decompose quickly and are gone for good.

Um, no. I have too many leaves. Mulching more often would only make smaller pieces. There would still be too much material.

 

[treemandan]

I blow mine into the gutter by the street. The township comes and blows them back in to my yard.
I blow mine into the gutter by the street. The township comes and blows them back in my yard.
I blow mine into the gutter by the street. The township comes and blows them in my yard and leaves a note telling me not to blow my leaves into the gutter.
I blow my leaves into the gutter by the street.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I blow mine into the gutter by the street. The township comes and blows them back in to my yard.
I blow mine into the gutter by the street. The township comes and blows them back in my yard.
I blow mine into the gutter by the street. The township comes and blows them in my yard and leaves a note telling me not to blow my leaves into the gutter.
I blow my leaves into the gutter by the street.

Sounds like the current direction of our American economy. :monkey:

 

[bassman]

I go in circles with the riding mover then vac them with the stihl blower vac unit and bag them up.
then I burn in outdoor boiler or spread on the garden .

 

[Octane]

I have two acres of oaks that are a leaf pain also. Has anyone ever tried one of those large vac and mulch machines that you pull behind your mower? If so, what kind of a job do they do? Thanks.

My girlfriend's parents have one of those. I think its called a, "Cyclone Rake". It works pretty good. If you have a lot of leaves to clean up and a place to dump them, I think it would be a pretty good setup.