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I don’t mind raking leaves. Fresh air, healthy exercise, and no gas or noise pollution.
It’s the bagging that I hate. Opening them, filling them, dragging them curbside. Waiting for pickup day, by which time they’re usually wet and rotting through the bottom of the bags.
Some townships do curbside pickup without bagging, which can be worse. Heaps of leaves blowing around, narrowing the roadways, and on occasion being covered by an early snowfall before they’re swept.
Landfill garden waste restrictions mean that you can’t just pile your leaves in with the regular household trash.
So what are the alternatives?
One option is to simply mulch the leaves directly into your lawn using a regular mulching mower.
Researchers at Purdue University conducted a 4-year study on the effect of mulching up to 4,000 lbs of leaves per acre directly into the turf (the average wooded lot will drop approximately 3,000 lbs per acre in a year).
Results from the Purdue study indicated that leaves mulched in this way have no adverse effect on:
- Turf quality or color
- Turf growth
- Thatch or mat
- Soil pH or nutrients
- Weed infestation
So, mulching your tree leaves into the grass is economical, environmentally friendly and doesn’t impact the performance of your lawn.
Another option to recycle your leaves is to either compost them or use them as mulch. For both of these solutions, it’s again best to start by chopping or shredding the leaves. If your lawn mower has a bag attachment, you can use it for this purpose.
You could also improvise with a string trimmer (e.g. Weedwhacker®) and a large garbage can, but be sure to wear adequate protection if you use this method. Commercial chipper/shredder solutions are also available.
Your shredded leaves can then be used either immediately as a mulch or added to a compost bin to produce a source of rich organic matter and nutrients.
