Posted by 
Before you put your lawn mower away for the winter, you can put them to good use this fall…
The easiest way to dispose of leaves is to simply mow them into the turf. Regular mowing during the fall will chop the leaves into small pieces and allow them to filter into the turf.
Research at Purdue and other universities shows that tree leaves can be mulched without any detrimental effects on the soil or turf. Actually, just the opposite may be true where tree leaf mulching may help improve the soil.
Mulching leaves with a mower is much easier than raking, blowing, and/or vacuuming the leaves like we have done in the past. Plus, it disposes of the leaves without filling up our landfills and saves our cities thousands of dollars in disposal costs.
Legislative Dispatch
Purple Dot Connection
2010 Big List
2010 Senate Elections
2010 House Elections
Press Releases
Why didn’t they do this 40+ years ago and print somewhere where my mom would have seen it?
Really! And why can’t I persuade my husband now? Maybe I can just accidentally “misplace” the rake. :)
Good tip!
The leaf mulch adds some nutrients to the soil (kinda like composting). Note that you may want to run the mower over the area several times to avoid clumping and try not to mow wet leaves (just like when mowing / mulching grass clippings) – leaving leaves / clippings on top of the lawn can damage the grass by blocking sunlight. Note also that if your lawn is diseased you need to remove your clippings.
[QUOTE] Mowing is probably the most important maintenance practice for a good-quality lawn but is probably the most overlooked maintenance practice as well… This maintenance chore is often taken for granted unless you realize that mowing directly affects the health and quality of a lawn and that it has a measurable effect on the way a turfgrass plant grows.[/QUOTE]
Home Lawn Maintenance
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0239/
The “scholarly” studies at Purdue and other universities were probably paid for by government grants of taxpayers’ dollars only to discover something I’ve been doing for years just because common sense told me it was the thing to do. I also blow partially chopped leaves into piles with my mower and then spread them across my garden and till them in to amend the soil. The same thing can be done in flower beds, or the leaves can be used for mulch around shrubbery.
Somewhere, an alderman will use this research to free his neighborhood from the scourge of Saturday AM leaf blowers. Meanwhile, the Big Two Cycle Conspiracy is plotting to release its own research papers and spin campaign.
walt – in the fall, I use the blower twice! First to blow leaves off the street and fence and shrubbery so I can mow them, then to clean up after the mowing.
Made possible by the Big Two Cycle Conspiracy :)