Leaves

Manny

Active Member
I have a neighbor who "mows" his leaves, rather than raking or blowing them off his lawn. He says he likes to leave them there because it makes his grass grow back better. He has a nice lawn, but I honestly can't tell that his grass is any better for doing that. Mine is just as nice for blowing the leaves away. But, I sometimes wonder if I am doing too much work, and should just go ahead and mow them. Does anyone else do this?
 
Mow them into the lawn... WAY less work and it will break down into the soil ++ +
Plus you will get that last mowing for the season, several times if your leaves fall like mine do...
:smile:KennyV
 
I don't think it makes that much of a difference, like you said but I know many people who do it. I'm sure it doesn't hurt and it does save you time, but I don't think it's very good for your mower.
 
I've always been told that leaves are good fertiliser for the lawn but have avoided it because I assumed it would damage the mower, as someone mentioned. Is it better to wait until the leaves are dry and crisp?
 
I don't think it makes that much of a difference, like you said but I know many people who do it. I'm sure it doesn't hurt and it does save you time, but I don't think it's very good for your mower.

I have been mowing leaves with my pushers and tractors for 40 years. How they can damage your mower is a mystery to me. Where did you get that information? Believe me, chopping them up with a mower is one heck of a lot easier than raking.
 
Yep, mow them in if you like - unless you have a great deal of thatch they will just decompose and feed your lawn. :biggrin:
 
Nanny

I always mow my leaves with the mower when we mow the lawn in the fall it good for the soil. The only problem i could see that it would hurt your mower is if you tried to mow them if they where wet and in a big pile , that's why you mow them a few times a few at a time when they are falling so you don't mow a lot of piled wet leaves. And if there is a big pile of wet one in a corner of your yard then you might have to deal with those a different way so it doesn't hurt your mower.
 
Noma you beat me to it! It was the worry about wet leaves and my mower that provoked my comment. I suppose that it is obvious looking back, as I wouldn't mow wet grass! Anyhow I found this interesting article about the benefits of mowing leaves. As the writer says, we are restricted by air pollution by laws and some areas won't let you throw away too much garden waste.
 
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