I don't like to mow weekly in the fall. I think the grass winters over better if it's left long. I also don't mind raking leaves. Therefore, my plan includes raking the leaves into a pile on the sidewalk and running the mower through them until they are powder, which I then put into my garden. Mower mulching on the sidewalk works better than doing it on the lawn because the multiple passes this requires is hard on the grass, and because you avoid overwhelming a lawn with excess leaf residue. Mulching throughout the season as you recommend, I'll end up with a 6" mulch on a garden that's about 300 ft sq, but by the end of July, all of the leaf mulch will have broken down and become humus. The key to the process is the raking. It gives you lots more control over the leaf mulch both in breaking down the leaves into smaller particles, and in what you can then do with the mulch after it's broken down. For anyone that uses a mower to mulch their leaves, recommend cleaning the air filter each time after you mulch. The powder from the leaves makes this essential for the health of your mower.
Excellent Suggestions! I see this all the time in NY to many people wait too long. The next spring I drive by and laugh at what they did late fall and caused big Spring green up issues. Good Content! Keep it up!
Mow when you don't have to?!?!?! I like your style!! I have been doing the same. I will be enjoying the mow tomorrow even though my grass hasn't grown much.
I just keep doing my weekly lawnmowing every week. As the fall progresses, it becomes more leaves, less grass that needs to be cut. Just keep doing it every week until the leaves stop. I also lower my lawnmower a notch every week in the fall until I'm down to my Winter height. Mulch it all!
Mowing often mixes the Greens & Browns and thats how compost works, it happens in the turf with microbes and dew. Like you said, chopping up 4-6 inches of leaves is like putting down a bag of mulch intended to smother weeds and it does the same to turf grass.
Let the leaves pile up last season and mulched them all up at once. In the spring I had evenly spaced green lines like a bad fertilizer job. Even though I spread them out all over the yard and cross mulched several times. It was obvious how much the grass liked the leaves though. Leaf mold is great for grass. I leave the pine straw till spring. When I rake it up that area greens up faster than the bare areas.
yeah, thats pretty much how I do my leaves every fall, and I feel its much better (and physically easier) than raking them away....if ever the leaves fall too thick, I just use the bag on my mower and dump some of them in my compost pile - in my neighborhood they do a leaf pickup weekly with these big vac trucks, and my neighbors across the street wait until the very last week to rake all their leaves up to the curb, and then half of their leaves blow into my yard(even if I wanted to use the leaf vac service, it would end before I could clean up my neighbors blow over).... pisses me off because that neighbor is a bee keeper, so he hates me because I take care of my yard and kill off clover and weeds; he 'thinks' that if he lets his yard go an only cuts it down once a month that its better for the bees....but his weeds(mostly dandelions) only flower for a short time, where I always have all kinds of flowers and fruits for the bees(apples, grapes, black raspberries; that bees go crazy on my left over ripe fruits when there aren't many flowers), he basically kills anything good in his yard every fall by letting the leaves build up until the last pick up, so not even good weeds(like clover and violets) grow in his yard; but he says its 'natural' well his bees like my yard better than his junk yard(really junky for a subdivision) ....and the most obvious thing to me is that if you are burning or deposing of your leaves and grass mulch, you are sucking all the nutrients out of your yard and getting rid of your top soil
We started with red raspberry bushes (6) and for two years not was is vs the birds. We stopped fighting the birds over berries and now some 15+ years later turns out the birds were the best thing We have lots of raspberries all over and they are easy to transplant and give away as well. Love raspberry picking time like clock work here in Ohio week of 4th of July.
Blueberries? I'm thinking about putting in some blueberries. How do you keep the soil acidic enough for the blueberries but neutral enough for the lawn?
When we planted the blueberries we dug a hole 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep, and filled with peat moss. That section we put down pine bark mulch every year, and use Holly Tone for fertilizer. It's worked amazingly well.
I think mulching is great, but this year I am going to have to mow often and bag. I just NEARLY eliminated apple scab from my crab apples, and now I've ended up with fungus impacting my big maples. Spraying helped a lot, but I need to knock down the fungus in the soil near the base of the trees.
@@mikewyant9662 Can't tell for sure but it looks like he's using the Checkmate one. It has a lot of rollers. www.mowersdirect.com/Big-League-Lawns-RESRPM20SC/p8754.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw3ebdBRC1ARIsAD8U0V6FGIzDb_Ace6omyhlBVSEXo9HkrbQalX8p6agY14IJ_X6_8QpuSC4aAiwiEALw_wcB
Grass Daddy thank you for the sticker! I received it last week! Can’t decide where I will put it. It may go on my spreader, backpack sprayer or lawn journal. Have t decided yet. Thanks again!
Leaves contain tannic acid, and too many leaves mulched up can affect soil ph which will negatively affect germinating grass seeds and new growth. Hardy, well established lawns with well developed root systems can tolerate more leaf mulch.
The only exception to not ever mulching leaves to improve soil texture is when you over seed. You want as many seeds to pop as possible ....and leaving grass clippings and mulched leaves will hinder that...
I agree, and water oak leaves are the most difficult to mulch. They are small leaves which makes it difficult for the blades to get at them and they are also sturdy, tough leaves.
Check our the mulch vs bag testing by the channel Jealous Lawn Care. Pretty much proves you don't need to bag, but also its ok to do one heavy mulch before the snow flies.
The backyard I was mowing at 3/4in all summer long =P It's important to understand the reasons for things like that so you know whether it applies or not.
Because it's 'more' about the soil and 'more' about what grows in it...... take care of the soil and what grows in it ( i.e. a 100' ft. tall tree...a single blade of grass...a 4" tall flower) and they will benefit.....
I don't like to mow weekly in the fall. I think the grass winters over better if it's left long. I also don't mind raking leaves. Therefore, my plan includes raking the leaves into a pile on the sidewalk and running the mower through them until they are powder, which I then put into my garden. Mower mulching on the sidewalk works better than doing it on the lawn because the multiple passes this requires is hard on the grass, and because you avoid overwhelming a lawn with excess leaf residue. Mulching throughout the season as you recommend, I'll end up with a 6" mulch on a garden that's about 300 ft sq, but by the end of July, all of the leaf mulch will have broken down and become humus. The key to the process is the raking. It gives you lots more control over the leaf mulch both in breaking down the leaves into smaller particles, and in what you can then do with the mulch after it's broken down. For anyone that uses a mower to mulch their leaves, recommend cleaning the air filter each time after you mulch. The powder from the leaves makes this essential for the health of your mower.
Excellent Suggestions! I see this all the time in NY to many people wait too long. The next spring I drive by and laugh at what they did late fall and caused big Spring green up issues. Good Content! Keep it up!
Agreed......I start doing it as soon as the leaves come down, and do it frequently.....great point.
Hands down, good advice on mulching grass or bagging👌👍
Mow when you don't have to?!?!?! I like your style!! I have been doing the same. I will be enjoying the mow tomorrow even though my grass hasn't grown much.
Strongly agree, this is what i try to explain to my customers.
Raise the front wheels one notch, it will make easier for the leaves to be sucked under the deck.
I agree I keep up with it, I don't even mind doing it
I just keep doing my weekly lawnmowing every week. As the fall progresses, it becomes more leaves, less grass that needs to be cut. Just keep doing it every week until the leaves stop. I also lower my lawnmower a notch every week in the fall until I'm down to my Winter height. Mulch it all!
Agreed. I mulch weekly, sometimes 2x/week, in the fall. If the leaves are really heavy, mulch it and bag what's left over.
Mowing often mixes the Greens & Browns and thats how compost works, it happens in the turf with microbes and dew. Like you said, chopping up 4-6 inches of leaves is like putting down a bag of mulch intended to smother weeds and it does the same to turf grass.
Let the leaves pile up last season and mulched them all up at once. In the spring I had evenly spaced green lines like a bad fertilizer job. Even though I spread them out all over the yard and cross mulched several times. It was obvious how much the grass liked the leaves though. Leaf mold is great for grass. I leave the pine straw till spring. When I rake it up that area greens up faster than the bare areas.
Very helpful video! Thank you for sharing.
Good thoughts on mulching the leaves. Thanks!
I mulch mow alway to mulch the leaves up and mulch mow the fertilized grass back into the lawn thus feeding the lawn again and again. 😁👍👍
Same here.......same here.
Excellent video, thank you :)
Thank you for sharing this useful information.
Great advice. Thank you
We miss you! Come back 🙏!
Need me one of these shirts! Lol good job on the video!
Always great information!
Thank you for the video I appreciate it that's what I do I'm glad someone out there confirms what I've already been doing
Your Back lawn looks quite healthy considering we are at the end of the season what are your temps now ?
I got a lawn mower with a really thick deck... sucks really good for mulching...
Nice video
Thanks!
yeah, thats pretty much how I do my leaves every fall, and I feel its much better (and physically easier) than raking them away....if ever the leaves fall too thick, I just use the bag on my mower and dump some of them in my compost pile
- in my neighborhood they do a leaf pickup weekly with these big vac trucks, and my neighbors across the street wait until the very last week to rake all their leaves up to the curb, and then half of their leaves blow into my yard(even if I wanted to use the leaf vac service, it would end before I could clean up my neighbors blow over).... pisses me off because that neighbor is a bee keeper, so he hates me because I take care of my yard and kill off clover and weeds; he 'thinks' that if he lets his yard go an only cuts it down once a month that its better for the bees....but his weeds(mostly dandelions) only flower for a short time, where I always have all kinds of flowers and fruits for the bees(apples, grapes, black raspberries; that bees go crazy on my left over ripe fruits when there aren't many flowers), he basically kills anything good in his yard every fall by letting the leaves build up until the last pick up, so not even good weeds(like clover and violets) grow in his yard; but he says its 'natural' well his bees like my yard better than his junk yard(really junky for a subdivision)
....and the most obvious thing to me is that if you are burning or deposing of your leaves and grass mulch, you are sucking all the nutrients out of your yard and getting rid of your top soil
We started with red raspberry bushes (6) and for two years not was is vs the birds. We stopped fighting the birds over berries and now some 15+ years later turns out the birds were the best thing
We have lots of raspberries all over and they are easy to transplant and give away as well. Love raspberry picking time like clock work here in Ohio week of 4th of July.
Thanks for the tips!
Blueberries? I'm thinking about putting in some blueberries. How do you keep the soil acidic enough for the blueberries but neutral enough for the lawn?
When we planted the blueberries we dug a hole 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep, and filled with peat moss. That section we put down pine bark mulch every year, and use Holly Tone for fertilizer. It's worked amazingly well.
Did you do a little seeding in the back or is that POA Triv? I see patches of lime green grass. I would cut that immediately. Good Stuff though.
I think mulching is great, but this year I am going to have to mow often and bag. I just NEARLY eliminated apple scab from my crab apples, and now I've ended up with fungus impacting my big maples. Spraying helped a lot, but I need to knock down the fungus in the soil near the base of the trees.
How do u make them lines with ur push mower
Striping kit.
@@aguyandhiscomputer where do u get them
@@mikewyant9662
Toro Lawn Striping System www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZKXYUO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_OgQUBbPGFWBQ4
That one is for Toro mowers.
@@mikewyant9662
Can't tell for sure but it looks like he's using the Checkmate one. It has a lot of rollers.
www.mowersdirect.com/Big-League-Lawns-RESRPM20SC/p8754.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw3ebdBRC1ARIsAD8U0V6FGIzDb_Ace6omyhlBVSEXo9HkrbQalX8p6agY14IJ_X6_8QpuSC4aAiwiEALw_wcB
I find doing a crosscut works best with my mulcher
I purposely bought a house with NO TREES!!! Fuck leaves! My last house had trees all over and the leaves were everywhere!!!! I hate leaves !!
hahaha great idea!
Grass Daddy thank you for the sticker! I received it last week! Can’t decide where I will put it. It may go on my spreader, backpack sprayer or lawn journal. Have t decided yet. Thanks again!
I've always heard that best practices after overseeding is to collect the leaves versus mulch.
Anyone?
Leaves contain tannic acid, and too many leaves mulched up can affect soil ph which will negatively affect germinating grass seeds and new growth.
Hardy, well established lawns with well developed root systems can tolerate more leaf mulch.
After overseeding you'll want to bag just because you don't want anything preventing sunlight from getting to the grass blades.
The only exception to not ever mulching leaves to improve soil texture is when you over seed. You want as many seeds to pop as possible ....and leaving grass clippings and mulched leaves will hinder that...
Although it doesn’t pertain to my exact situation, thanks for the tips any way Tim!
Thank you so much for the sticker! Your videos have helped out a lot!
GDad: 2019, “it’s been a rough year”
2020: hold my clover beer...
lets see you mulch 6 inches of leaves with that honda lmaooo
I mulch the leaves but oaks and hickory tree leaves do not mulch well. Boy you can really walk fast.
Hickory Nuts, Black Walnuts, & Acorns...the three reasons I rationalized a lawn vac this year
I agree, and water oak leaves are the most difficult to mulch. They are small leaves which makes it difficult for the blades to get at them and they are also sturdy, tough leaves.
How in the world did you ever let all that clover allow to grow so much?
My neighbor has a clover farm essentially and this was a rough year for me. Since it blends in and is easy to kill I haven't worried about it.
Check our the mulch vs bag testing by the channel Jealous Lawn Care. Pretty much proves you don't need to bag, but also its ok to do one heavy mulch before the snow flies.
Anything less than 3 inches is too short , I’ve always been told
The backyard I was mowing at 3/4in all summer long =P It's important to understand the reasons for things like that so you know whether it applies or not.
Mowing destroys homes 😣
?
Why not just bag it.
Because it's 'more' about the soil and 'more' about what grows in it......
take care of the soil and what grows in it ( i.e. a 100' ft. tall tree...a single blade of grass...a 4" tall flower) and they will benefit.....