Mulching vs. Bagging Your Leaves This Fall

Nick sent an email and says, ‘should I mulch my leaves, mostly hickory leaves, or bag them with my mower?’

It depends on how many leaves are coming down. So what you don’t want is a massive amount of organic material sitting on top of the grass.

It depends on how they grind up, too. I mulch some of my leaves, and then if I’ve got an area that’s really, really heavy, like with that ground up leaves on top of the grass, I don’t want to suffocate the grass. I’ll bag those areas that are a little heavier after they’re ground up, and I can see how much organic debris is laying on top of the ground.

Everybody’s house is a little different, depending on which direction the wind’s blowing, when they come down, how many end up in your yard.

Maples are about finished up, but sometimes your hickories and your oaks and some of the other nut trees, they hold on a little bit later. I know my oaks are only about half done. So I’ll grind up some, and then I’ll bag up some. And the areas like underneath the maple tree, there was not much wind when they dropped, so they were over-ankle deep. And even when I ground them up, it just, I couldn’t even see the grass. It was so thick.

So then I ran the mower back over that area with the bagger attachment and cleaned up the excessive amount that’s there. Well, a lot of the leaves that you use, you can use to put around the roots and mulch the roots and protect them over the winter. You just want to make sure you pull it back in the springtime, before it starts pulling or pushing growth.

Questions? Email us at [email protected] or call one of our two locations: Portage (330-499-0101) or Everhard (330-492-1243).