How to clean up leaves from lawn

John Fitzgerald

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Why bother raking into windrows?

It's easier to mulch that way, at least for me. The mower tends to push big piles, plus the wind here will push the leaves into heaps against the fences, flower beds, and buildings, making it hard to get to them with the mower.
 

Darryl G

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It's easier to mulch that way, at least for me. The mower tends to push big piles, plus the wind here will push the leaves into heaps against the fences, flower beds, and buildings, making it hard to get to them with the mower.

Ok thanks. Yeah I use a blower to get the leaves out into the lawn area where I can run them over. I was picturing raking them into neat rows just to run them over and disperse them which seemed like a waste of time to me. Agreed that piles aren't the way to go although I do that on the back lawn of one account I have because there are so many rock outcrops and stumps - machine killers I call them.
 

gotomow

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You should consider a Honda HRX series lawnmower. I struggled with leaves for decades. I kept my MTD Craftsman mower going way too long and even added a lawn vacuum to the struggle. The Honda pulverizes leaves so you can either bag or just mulch them into your lawn. I'm going to be getting rid of my leaf vacuum now that I have been using the Honda for several years. The Honda is faster and it's bag is easier to empty. If you mulch them into your lawn you have to keep up with it on a regular basis. I usually run over heavy leaf concentrations first and then bag them. I then keep them on a tarp until my city picks up the leaves curbside. If you plan to stay at this property for a while consider having an arborist over to see if your trees could use some pruning. As others have said consider having some trees removed. I had 3 medium-large trees that were close to my house removed this spring, and I cut down 3 small-medium trees myself so I'm looking forward to having fewer leaves this fall.
 

broo

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I also have lots of leaves on the ground every Fall. I mow them over a few times, which does two things :

- Cuts leaves in smaller pieces so they will compost faster and therefore give me free fertilizer in that area
- If you mow the leaves when they are dry and brittle, they act as some kind of mild sandblast on your mowing deck. Not strong enough to remove paint, but it cleans really good.
 

SidecarFlip

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I just blow them into my neighbor's yard. Easy peasy...
 

Gismo1956

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I pull a vac trailer behind mower clean up 2 6+ acres every year
 

tom3

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I just blow them into my neighbor's yard. Easy peasy...

I think my neighbor does this. I don't have a tree but sure get a lot of leaves. Mulch some, bag some, ignore some.
 

7394

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I think my neighbor does this. I don't have a tree but sure get a lot of leaves. Mulch some, bag some, ignore some.

I know my neighbor does this, but it's not my fenced yard he blows them into, but the yard behind his property as it's their trees that share their leaves with him. :laughing:

He gets so upset I think he's gonna blow a gasket..
 
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