Every fall, as soon as leaves begin to drop, there are a flood of articles and reports on mowing leaves vs raking leaves.
These articles often focus on the advantages or disadvantages of each method.
However, we are going to explain why mulching your leaves with a lawn mower is better than raking.
It starts with having the correct equipment then the article moves on to discuss environmental impact, resource management, and potential problems.
If you encounter additional lawn care problems, consider a professional lawn care service to help solve whatever problem you are dealing with.
The Correct Equipment
Another thing to consider when thinking about mowing leaves vs raking leaves is that it’s crucial to have the correct equipment when discussing mulching the leaves falling on your lawn.
A regular lawn mower can be used, but it will take multiple passes over every section and may not result in dicing the leaves small enough not to kill the grass.
It will also cost more not only in your time spent mowing, but on fuel and oil. If possible, especially if you have lots of trees dropping leaves or a medium to large lawn, purchasing a mulching lawn mower is a great investment and can be used for regular mowing as well.
A mulching lawn mower is specifically designed to mulch grass and leaves. They come equipped with a serrated and curved blade that helps spin the leaves and grass multiple times around the inside of the mower allowing them to be cut smaller.
Environmental Impact
Raking leaves can create a lot of waste through the use of plastic bags or through burning the leaves.
A mulching lawn mower will not require any plastic bags or burning and will benefit the grass in the long run because the mulch will decompose and provide it with necessary nutrients.
Using a mulching lawn mower also doesn’t have as big of an environmental impact as raking because you are already mowing your lawn at least once a week anyway.
In addition, there are battery-powered mulching lawn mowers which further reduce any potential environmental impact.
So, from an environmentally conscious standpoint a mulching lawn mower is not only a good investment but also helps to reduce the negative environmental impact caused by dealing with falling leaves throughout the Autumn months.
Resource Management
Raking leaves will cost money not only through the time you put into it but also in potentially having to pay the city to pick up the leaves.
Depending on the size of your lawn and the number of trees dropping leaves, it could take hours to rake your lawn and it may need done multiple times a week.
Even if you use a leaf blower there is still the cost of fuel and oil in addition to the time necessary to blow the leaves away. There is also the possibility that wind would blow the leaves back onto the lawn or that there is no space to hold the leaves.
A mulching lawn mower efficiently mulches leaves and grass thus saving you the time of having to mow the lawn and also then rake the leaves.
In addition, even if you mow twice a week during the time when the leaves are falling the most, it still would save time and you wouldn’t have to worry about fertilizing your lawn or the leaves blowing around.
Potential Problems
There are several potential problems when considering mulching your lawn. First, a lot of it depends on what types of trees are dropping leaves or needles.
Pine trees dropping needles is not good because a mulching lawn mower cannot mulch the needles effectively.
Some leaves, like those from a Maple tree or Ash tree, are more difficult to mulch and may need to be mowed over a couple of times. And Black Walnut and Eucalyptus leaves have natural herbicidal qualities that could potentially harm your grass or not allow it to grow well.
Finally, if there are a lot of trees dropping leaves at the same time you may need to mow more frequently, two or three times a week, and you may need a bag attachment for your mower so that the mulch doesn’t accumulate to thick and kill the grass.
Expert Lawn Care Solutions
The lawn experts at Gecko Green are always available to help. Give them a call and they will gladly send out an expert to examine your lawn and suggest services.
Having the experts at Gecko Green take care of your lawn not only saves you time, but also gives you the peace of mind of knowing the job will be done well!
