rake or mulch?

[uneasy]

Is this topic science? Maybe.

Do you rake your leaves in autumn or do you mulch them with a lawn mower? And why? And if you rake them, what do you do with them?

I think it froze last night because in one morning my lawn was covered in leaves. So I went out and had fun pulverizing them with my 6.5 horsepower mulching lawnmower. To me this seems like the best solution. I just have to go out once or twice a week for a few weeks, and all the leaves disappear.

If I rake them, I'd probably have to spend two full raking afternoons. Then I'd have to drive the dozens of bags out to the city leaf pile. The upside to this is that the pile turns into free mulch for people next spring.

[arcticpenguin]

Tree leaves tend to be acidic, so may not make balanced mulch for your lawn.

I rake. I have a non-motorized reel mower, which suits me fine because I have a very small yard. However, it does not pulverize leaves well at all. In fact, I wouldn't be able to mow if I didn't rake the leaves out of the way first. (Of course, if I leave the leaves in place for weeks, the grass doesn't grow and doesn't need mowing...)

In Gorges, we can put bags of leaves and other yard waste at the curb on garbage day, and the city picks them up. The city must have a huge mulch pile, they don't go into the regular garbage.

[fishbob]

We rake and bag, and haul the leaves to my neighbor. These folks have extensive flower and vegetable gardens. They solicit clean leaves this time of year to cover the flower beds as insulation between the plants and the snow. They compost the leaves in the spring for garden mulch. We get fresh veggies every once in a while.

[garys_2k]

Mulch 'em in, just like the grass clippings. Hasn't hurt a thing and much easier on the back.

[uneasy]

My theory is that leaves have rotted on the ground for thouands of years before people thought of doing anything with them.

Mulch em!

[Chareen]

Originally posted by uneasy
My theory is that leaves have rotted on the ground for thouands of years before people thought of doing anything with them.

Mulch em!

However, there were not lawns thousands of years ago either.

I'm no expert but I was taught to rake them or else they smother the lawn. *shrug*

Thinking about it I imagine it would completely depend on how many leaves you have in what sized lawn.

[BTox]

I've been mulching for 11 years, too much area and too many leaves to rake. Doesn't seem to bother the lawn any but I'm not that into lawns... as long as it's greenish..

[uneasy]

Dang! My supernatural trees dumped a whole new load of leaves on my lawn. I have two that I think regrow extra leaves just to annoy me.

Mulching also gives the pleasure of shredding those pesky things.

"Mommy, why does that man mowing his lawn have a look of sadistic glee in his eyes?"

[Filippo Lippi]

I have a tiny garden with one huge beech tree, if I mulched into the lawn I'd be putting in a new step up every year. I make leaf mold out of as many leaves as I can, the rest my mate takes to his allotment and digs them in.

As for raking, plastic tines are the best and get some of those big paddles for your hands. The leaf blower I bought is more trouble than it is worth:(

[Professor Frink]

Depending on how well you care for your lawn with regular dethatchings and aerations, you might get yourself in trouble just mulching it into pieces and leaving it there. You may end up with too much thatch suffocating your grass. Some people have problems with too much thatch who mulch when doing regular mowing. I recommend bagging every other mow and then dethatching once a year. You'll be amazed how much stuff builds up in your lawn over the year.

Frink

[arcticpenguin]

Has anyone actually tried the Ames clog-free rake? (http://www.ames.com/newproducts/clogfree.html) It looks interesting but I'd like to hear from someone with actual experience before shelling out.