Atwood LawnCare

The leaves are changing and soon they’ll be a falling, which means it’s time for you and me to start doing something with all those leaves. If you’re still of the belief that you need to rake leaves, come on over to the mowing side. Here’s what you need to know to successfully mow leaves into the turf. First of all make sure your mower has a sharp blade. After a long season of mowing, the blades may be dull at this time of year and trying to chop up leaves will be more challenging with a dull blade. Second, raise the mower as high as it will go and mow at your normal speed, don’t “rev” the throttle to the high jackrabbit setting and blaze around the yard. Try to mow the leaves when they are moist from the morning dew but don’t mow them when they’re really wet. This will prevent the leaves from blowing all over the place and will help with your allergies. Finally, don’t let the leaves pile up too high before you mow. Too high would probably be greater than 3 to 4 inches of leaf depth on the turf. Mulching leaves helps the turf by returning nutrients and organic matter. After a nice rain shower you usually can’t even tell that you mulched the leaves into the turf.

by Dr. Kevin Frank
MSU Crop and Soil Science
Michigan State University’s Landscape Crop Advisory Team Alert
Vol. 20, No. 18, September 23, 2005
http://www.ipm.msu.edu/CAT05_land/L09-23-05.htm