Rake, Bag Or Mulch Leaves?? + How LOW For LAST MOW??

Have questions about end of season leaves and how low to mow before winter?
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[@ryanknorrlawncare]

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[@oafkad]

I'm a mulch man. It has the most benefits imo. Helps the yard, helps animals, and is less work. Everyone wins.

[@MichaelDinsmore]

Yes, I definitely mulch until the lawn reaches a saturation point. Don’t want to overdo it, but you can still mulch a great quantity before you get there!

[@josephjaramillo2793]

I feel like mulched leaves kills st Augustine that’s cut at 4.5”+

[@joshraleigh2002]

Hi Ryan been watching for about 2 years. Have learned a lot from you and really enjoy the videos. Cool season lawn here in Connecticut.

[@donnarizzo3510]

I have watched you on and off since I became. DIYer that would be for 2 yrs. I am from the Bronx NY ty for all you contribute to help others with all your knowledge 🥰

[@Branman1468]

Cmon man, I was googling (?) this probably mere mins before this was posted lol.. would much rather your guidance, helped my lawn reno turn out amazing. thanks for all you're doing!

[@jfarm_1311]

Good tips. A big part of leaves is handling leaves for me is handling as they fall and not once they’re all down

[@hyperpyro67]

I have 4 giant maple trees on my property. I've gotten into the habit of running over all of it with a mulch, and then running over it again with the bag on my mower to pick up the majority of the scraps. There's way too many leaves on my property to leave them all there, but doing this has turned 42 bags of leaves, into 2-3 bags of mulched leaves, 4-5 times total. Now if this last tree would stop being a pain and drop the rest of it's leaves, I can do a dormant seed, and be done for the year.

[@shay1116]

I hear ya. Have a few huge Autumn Blaze maples that have dropped all their leaves while a Crimson King is holding on.

[@Craig-ib7gk]

Likewise. I have four Linden trees near 80 feet tall (development planning requirement from the city c. 22 years ago), and they're the bane of my existence during summer and fall. They're like a delicacy to aphids, which, in turn, drop "honeydew" (i.e. aphid crap) all over the ground, including street, driveway, cars, grass, sidewalks, you name it. It's near-black, sticky, and incredibly annoying to clean. And we can't call commercial sprayers in, as the pesticides also kill the bees, which love them almost as much as aphids do). When the do decide to drop leaves, the do so with vengeance. if I'm not picking up and/or mulching every 2-3 days they will *quickly* reach 12+ inches thick on the yard. When just-bagging they'll drop 6-8 bags (lawn bags, the big ones; not mower bags) a week for about six weeks. That, over only about 1200sf of turf. I *hate* these trees, but the city won't let me take them out and replace them with something else. Capping the nonsense, those trees aren't even indigenous to this region. I'd like to find the planner that filed that development design and kick him square in gnads. They're the *only* planting option allowed per city ordinance (must stick with "the plan"), and the HOA requires two trees per front plot (of which I have two). Try keeping a lawn healthy whilst bugs are constantly covering it with crap and then fall comes and covers it with yards-thick leaves. It was a miracle a managed to do a reno this year (which turned out great, for now).

[@briantayes2418]

@Craig are you allowed to prune them. If so, I would heavily prune them to reduce the amount of leaves.

[@Craig-ib7gk]

@@briantayes2418 They're already pruned the maximum allowed by city code. Only if they (a) interfere with utilities, or (b) contact the dwelling in reasonable weather, can they be pruned further. Neither qualifies for any of these trees. Not that it matters. As I said, these things are over 80 feet tall. You could remove 1/2 the branches and we'd still be dumping yard-high flows of leaves on the ground. I find it ironic that the same city = HOA stating I can't replace them with something else are also the ones that say the unbelievable safety hazards they impose (80 foot shallow-root trees standing no more than 40 feet from dwellings, and leaf-drop into the streets that turns them into skating rinks when wet) are the homeowner's responsibility, including liability incursion.

[@evank2035]

I watch my neighbors spend hours blowing leaves around while I run over it with my mower and move on with my life.

[@BenjaminT.Minkler]

I do my most frequent mowing in the fall, mowing one section(front, back, or sides) nearly every day(just takes a few mins.with an eMower for a smaller segment trim vs doing the whole yard with a deep cut/mulch), then the next day do a different section - mostly just to stay on top of leaf fall so they never build up, always mulching every single leaf in and never seeing any build up at all even tho I have more trees than anyone else around me(and they also let their leaves blow into my yard) ....seems like the fall is always the best time for cool season grasses to establish their best growth - with new/over seedings, or just pushing them with heavier fert doses and watering, plus cutting down lower than I'd do summer and spring to get the most N from leaves(altho still a small amount) leaves have to be mulched, broken down, and absorbed right away; before they totally dry and the N gasses off - doing them asap also allows as much time as possible for the micro bio to get to work in any warmth left of the end season days, thus so the grass plants can use the nutrients - which importantly are the MICROS that are hard to get and apply from other means(store bought) .....others around me let the leaves build up where they fall or worse pile them in spots, only causing death to their grass before they are removed instead of growth during this most important time of the cool season

[@briana5444]

Here in Utah in a high altitude desert mulching leaves and grass in general is risky for thatch buildup, it takes FOREVER to break down so I always just bag it to keep it clean

[@bobgleason8279]

New video from new place!!

[@rjt135]

I have a tiny lot but a ton of massive trees. I blow my leaves into a pile and then use a leaf vacuum to mulch them directly into my city's curbside barrel. I've filled my 64 gallon barrel two weeks in a row with probably another one next. Definitely too much to leave on the lawn.

[@Player16]

I just rake mine up using both a regular leaf rake and the landscaper rake. It saves time. Then I pile them up in my disused veggie garden. There's like 10 years worth of leave and grass on that pile. Loads of life forms in it. I might turn the leave on occasion and dump some blood 'n' bone in it to help break it down.

[@terrywatts1060]

Thank you

[@trevormuggeridge4560]

First Aussie 😁. Ryan, great advice from the Lawn Ranch. 🤠

[@BenNawrath]

Benefit of shorter grass: If you don't get a lot of snow, and/or this time of year you have neighbors who don't pick up their leaves, the leaves tend to blow away a lot easier on shorter turf :) My front lawn stays much cleaner looking.

[@rustyfan89]

I do the same thing in my front and it seems like every year we get a couple windy days and like magic they’re gone ..right to my backyard but at least they don’t stay up front

[@BenNawrath]

@@rustyfan89 Yeah my back yard is a difference story with the fences any everything.

[@bbtank3000]

My last mow is usually one inch. I find that shorter grass is less appealing to those annoying winter voles.

[@zoner__]

Curious as to how lawns are done in other parts of the world. Winter project?

[@jherrmann543]

Mulch guy here when able to. Just have so many leaves. Try to cut my grass to about 1.5 inches

[@300hiker]

If I mulch leaves right into the lawn I always get bare spots come spring from where the little pieces got down between the grass blades and blocked the soil.

[@-What-are-your-thoughts]

What a day 2 for 1. Finish one watch another.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

I was up late haha

[@woof3598]

I bag an dumd them on the flower beds, whats left over go to the trailers in town

[@donnarizzo3510]

Ryan I have a problem with my PH being 7.16 on last soil test May 2022. I know it is still high because my grass has light green patches all through. I have placed Jonathan Green Mag I Cal In May and again this November but I don't thick there is much change. I was also planning to pt Ammonium Sulfate before the end of this month because I heard it will also lower PH. Another problem I am having is with Bermuda grass invading my TTTF that I have sprayed with Tenacity twice that left yellowish brown patches amidst a very green lawn. The lawn is very beautiful and the comments I get are numerous but I know the grass is not up to par. Can you made some suggestions that may help these issues?

[@jaymetheaccountant]

Happy 2nd. That time of year eh Ryan?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

It is 😔

[@Jfitzroy1]

Would a Landzie top dressing spreader actually work on spreading mulched leaves? All my leaves fall in one corner of the yard and was thinking.about spreading the mulched leaves on the entire lawn. Wondering if this tool would be suitable.

[@douglascain6404]

When you bag your leaves the lawn looks cleaner and greener. However, by bagging I need to fertilize more often to replace the nutrients into the soil. In other words, mulching is less expensive but it doesn't look as good as bagging.

[@309gti8]

I’ll usually put the bag on my Honda and pick up the leaves once most of them come down, then I’ll just mulch the rest of the time. I don’t know why more people don’t bag the leaves with the mower, it gets most of them and is way easier and quicker than raking.

[@PolarisEricson]

Sucks to be me. Just snowed over a decent amount of leaves.

[@briantayes2418]

I mow them up and put them on my vegetable garden.

[@TimothyTrisnadhama]

What if you overseeded your lawn? Will the shredded mulch prevent then from germinating?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

If they get mulched up really well it shouldn't be an issue but if you're worried about smothering then I would remove them instead

[@gsuttonvo]

Hey Ryan, what if you have a mid-size active dog who tends to tear up the yard in the winter months...? Should I keep it longer? Anything else I can do to help protect it? Wish I would have had a season or two to really grow some thick turf before getting the pup, but alas. Feel like I'm just trying to keep up with the damage each year.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

Probably slightly longer would help a little

[@velcroman11]

Compost, compost that is the answer.

[@sethm10]

So the mulched leaves get spread over the lawn, in the flower beds or both?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

I leave mine in my lawn

[@TheHouser21]

Are there certain types of leaves you shouldn’t mulch?

[@msilv8335]

No

[@billylacharity3443]

My 21 inch push mower has a mulch option (can plug the side chute) but no mulch blade. Should I get a mulch blade?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

You could try without and see how it works but it might be the best performer

[@Majik1911]

First other than Ryan!?

[@Eyore82]

I just burn all of mine. It's good for the environment and my neighbors really love it

[@wadebarnett2542]

Burning is NOT good for the environment.

[@fadetoblack51]

@@wadebarnett2542 but his neighbors love it…

[@TheOtherSean]

$29 mulch plug and $50 for gator blades for my Lawn tractor and a double pass cures all. I only rake leaves to make a pile for the kids to jump in.

[@kv8961]

2nd

[@richardsmith2721]

How late can you mow?

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

I usually quit as soon as I see consistent hard freezes every night. Last mow was yesterday for me I believe

[@johnkeith2767]

As long as there is no snow on the ground, you should be fine. If you got long grass you might want to cut the long to a medium height this weekend. I am mowing for the last time this weekend as well.

[@richardsmith2721]

@@ryanknorrlawncare Thank you. I'm asking because I have several mature oaks and most years they aren't finished until December. I've mulched as late as December. I'm not really cutting the grass at this point. I'm just mulching. Does it hurt my lawn to mulch after several freezes? That said, this is our first freeze tonight this year north of Chicago along the lake. It's the second latest first freeze since they've been keeping records in the area. I've barely had a frost, so the grass is still green and growing. It was 75 yesterday. We're getting your weather today though.

[@jonathanm9700]

Buy a cyclone rake

[@johnkeith2767]

I see all my neighbors racking and bagging and spending money on the town stickers to have their leaves picked up. I keep telling them, just mulch them up and leaving them on the ground. DON'T WASTE THE MONEY!!!!!

[@mgriffin12]

blow, cut, blow. make sure all the leaves are away from the edges...hit it with a double cut...then blow the yard again. leaves completely disappear

[@kellengreen1487]

Bro listening to Nirvana as i see this video. How low how low how low?

[@coreymclernon]

I like to give it a shorter cut for last one of the season. Makes raking up the leaves much easier. Personally I feel that getting the leaves up is better. As long as you put down a winter fertilizer the lawn comes back nice and green and isn’t suffocated by the leaves that are not cut real fine. The amount of nutrients in leaves is nothing compared to good fertilizer. IMHO

[@ian3580]

Finely cut leaves don't suffocate the grass. The leaves put organic matter into the soil, feed microbes and worms, and through these result in healthier soil overall. Removing leaves is essentially exporting fertilizer and organic matter from your property.

[@mct8888]

Mulch em! Don't waste your money bagging them up.

[@wadebarnett2542]

I had always mulched, and cleaned up things for the winter. Now, I learn that I've been an eco-terrorist. Little lifeforms can live in the fallen leaves. This year, I'm not doing anything until the spring.

[@ryanknorrlawncare]

If the leaves smother the grass some will definitely die off

[@TheOtherSean]

Mulch the leaves on the lawn, leave all the landscaped areas alone until Spring. That still gives lots of areas for the bugs for the winter.

[@skylilly1]

I found that out last year. I was raking under my porch using my metal rake and I raked over a frog. I felt so bad...so, I leave that be until spring and then I'm very careful and I gently use my light rake. He was probably keeping me bug free, too, I never have issues on or around my porch. Win, win!

[@wadebarnett2542]

@@ryanknorrlawncare I noticed years ago that no one rakes the forest. It's always healthy.

[@tomcoon9038]

@@wadebarnett2542 There's no grass growing in the forest either.