You want to mulch at the height you normally would mow for type of turf and time of year. It is never a good idea to mow short or stress the turf just because you want to mulch leaves.

 

I have been cutting my leaves at 2.5"

 

You want to mulch at the height you normally would mow for type of turf and time of year. It is never a good idea to mow short or stress the turf just because you want to mulch leaves.

Well thinking of build up of leaf dust or mulch. How much is to much, for example I cut grass around 3" right now. Would 1" of leaf much be to much? Maples can put down a tremendous amount of leaves, I have often thought about mulching but never have.

 

Ive been mulching leaves on my yards for 6 yrs now. I do it weekly or every two weeks. That way Im not trying to mulch a foot of leaves at one time. The yards look great though.

 

Ive been mulching leaves on my yards for 6 yrs now. I do it weekly or every two weeks. That way Im not trying to mulch a foot of leaves at one time. The yards look great though.

At what height are you mulchng?

 

I've been mulching or "grinding" as I call it, leaves since 1996 . Lawns I mow at 3.5" I drop to 3. On the final cleanup I mulch then bag at 2.5" to 2.75 depending on the lawn thickness. I have used the grinding method to leaves that are knee deep at times. Just keep mowing over and over until its just dust. The bagger sucks up the dust and I put the bags at the curb. A big pile of leaves is mostly air.

 

Is it bad for the grass to mulch leaves? I think I remember reading that it messes up the PH levels.

 

Is it bad for the grass to mulch leaves? I think I remember reading that it messes up the PH levels.

I really think that's only if the leaves are brought to a different area, the ph in the leaves is going to be, has to be, what came out of the soil in the first place!

I mulch all my leaves, mulching at 3", they come out PERFECT.

 

I wouldn't do it unless the leaf cover is light because it just makes a mess...
Whether it's good for the ph level or not I don't know but as a general rule if it's just a big brown mess of bitty pieces of leaves everywhere...

Now I don't like to cut the grass too short because of scalping and possible damage to sprinkler heads...
With large decks it seems the lowest I can mow with minimal impact is right at 3" and now this time of the year I like
my grass as short as possible because it makes the clean ups easier so I wouldn't cut no higher than 3" either.

So for me 3" it is

 

I wouldn't do it unless the leaf cover is light because it just makes a mess...
Whether it's good for the ph level or not I don't know but as a general rule if it's just a big brown mess of bitty pieces of leaves everywhere...

I truly mean no offense, but you haven't watched me mulch leaves. My lawns, even if there are so many leaves on them you cannot BEGIN to see the turf under them, look like they are bagged, from a view a few yards away. In spring you can't see ANY mulched leaves on the lawn, just perfect grass.

 

Is it bad for the grass to mulch leaves? I think I remember reading that it messes up the PH levels.

It's good for the soil. If you mulch a whole lot of leaves it could make the soil acidic. But that's easily corrected with lime, which is comparitively cheap.
If you have a lot of oak or walnut trees they have tannic acid which acts as a natural herbicide. You can mulch a reasonable amount of them without problems.

 

i mulch them at the height i mow them at

 

At what height are you mulchng?

I mulch at the same height I had been cutting at..for bermuda and fescue about 2.75"

 

We mulch at 3 inches as well.

And TOPSITES stop using that stupid Tongue Smile on every Post

 

This is easy to answer.....you want to mulch leaves as high as possible the first time you go over them. Because if you have to do leaves 8 times over several months you can lower it just a tad each time and get a very good mulch job. If you take it down too far on the first cut/mulch it will be harder and harder on subsequent weeks. Hard to mulch leaves if you don't have any grass underneath.....unless they are wet.

 

Is it bad for the grass to mulch leaves? I think I remember reading that it messes up the PH levels.

Your also helping to add organic matter back into the turf and you are also feeding the worms. Good stuff.

 

Is it bad for the grass to mulch leaves? I think I remember reading that it messes up the PH levels.

No. I call it free fertilizer. What do people use in their compost piles? Dead leaves. What you are doing is just breaking them down into tiny bits.

Good stuff.

 

............. Maples can put down a tremendous amount of leaves, I have often thought about mulching but never have.

The maples grind up easier than the oaks.

 

As for height of mulch it all depends on the lawn. I don't know if your lawns are dormant now but up here our growth slows waaaay down in October. After 3 hard freezes it is pretty much stopped. We mow KY blue blends mostly and average height is 3.5. I drop to 2.75 with the atomic blades.
Leaf type and moisture are two key factors in grinding. Honey locusts are a pain. Billions of small leaves. Silver maples are my favorite. I have taken piles 3 to 4 feet high and 40 feel long and reduced them to an inch. We will grind all season and if the leaf debris is really thick in one area I will come back and either use the backpack blowers to "move it around" or will use the Walker and vacuum it a little.
This time of year I can mulch grass without issue. I could never get away with it in May or early September. Just experiment with your lawns, it sure beats chasing or tarping.

 

Great pics and great advice. Thanks to all for their input. In my own yard, I mow my St. Augustine at 4". When the leaves start falling, I cannot get a decent mulch/grind at 4" or even 3.5", so I started lowering it even more. That's what prompted me to post this thread. Currently I'm mulching at 2.75" and seem to be getting a good grind.

Thanks again!!

 

"grinders" are a different breed IMO. its about getting the job done without a big investment in leaf equipment. When I started grinding it was out of necessity. I had a few lawns and I would rake the leaves into a pile and I used my 21" mower to grind them down . I would wheelie the mower into the pile and reduce the volume of leaves and then bad them. As I got more lawns and walkbehind mowers I simply adapted the grinding concept to this equipment. No big leaf hauler truck, leaf loader to maintain, and no dumping fees. It just worked for me. I have wheelied my 36" w/b into knee high leaves and reduced them to a few bags of dust. Here is a link to thread I started yrs ago about grinding.
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=125671&highlight=leaf+grinding

 

"grinders" are a different breed IMO. its about getting the job done without a big investment in leaf equipment. When I started grinding it was out of necessity. I had a few lawns and I would rake the leaves into a pile and I used my 21" mower to grind them down . I would wheelie the mower into the pile and reduce the volume of leaves and then bad them. As I got more lawns and walkbehind mowers I simply adapted the grinding concept to this equipment. No big leaf hauler truck, leaf loader to maintain, and no dumping fees. It just worked for me. I have wheelied my 36" w/b into knee high leaves and reduced them to a few bags of dust. Here is a link to thread I started yrs ago about grinding.
http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=125671&highlight=leaf+grinding

I've been preaching this gospel since 1974 with a Lawnboy and a bent wire coathanger across the exhaust chute. (dang I'm old!!) Tried it first on my parents lawn, lots of maples. The lawn was quite 'happy' with the results. Yeah for 3 weeks of the year the lawn is not quite as pristine as usual, but it comes back stronger each spring.

The technique has now evolved into firing inward to the centre of the yard with a 60" open exhaust mower for a rough chop. Second step is to go back and forth with the 54" mulching mower for the fine chop. I tend to run large area lawns. Repeat on a weekly mowing schedule from first drop to snowfall. We take nothing out but the mowers when we leave. We've been doing some for 18 years

 

now thats what I'm typing about..another long time "grinder" drive away with nothing but a check!!!!!

 

i think that mulching up the leaves is a cheap and UGLY way of doing leaf removal!! wow if we done that around here we would be fired!

 

i think that mulching up the leaves is a cheap and UGLY way of doing leaf removal!! wow if we done that around here we would be fired!

. . .AND I THINK THAT HAULLING LEAVES IS SOCAILLY IRRESPONSIBLE AND MORALLY INDECENT AND WOULD GET US DROPPED LIKE A HOT TRIMMER MUFFLER BY OUR CUSTOMERS

there I feel better