6 Pros and Cons of Mulching Leaves

Fall foliage can be a beautiful sight, that is until it’s time to clean up the leaves. You will either need to mulch, rake, or follow the compost method. In this article we will cover all of the pros and cons of mulching leaves.

Why Mulch Leaves?

Removing leaves from your yard is an essential step to maintaining a healthy lawn. You might be tempted to let the leaves sit on the grass however, this can cause many problems down the road.

Doing this will create a barrier between your grass and the sun. As a result, sunlight, water, and other nutrients are not able to reach down into the roots of the soil.

When you don’t pick up leaves it will ultimately suffocate and kill the grass. Mulching helps shred the leaves up with a lawnmower, in order to help break them up and feed the soil.

Pros of Mulching Leaves

If you want to keep things simple and have the right tools for the job, mulching is the solution. Here are three of the biggest pros of mulching leaves can have for your lawn.

1. Quick and Easy

Mulching is one of the quickest and easiest ways to deal with leaves on your lawn. All you need to do is set your lawnmower to the mulch setting and drive over your entire yard.

The lawnmower will break down the leaves into much smaller pieces. You will still be able to see these little pieces, but they won’t be harmful to your lawn like they were before.

There also won’t be any need to bag or rake the leaves when you’re finished. The pieces will be small enough to still allow sunlight to pass through them, so the grass will not die afterwards.

2. Natural Fertilizer

Another pro of mulching leaves is the benefit it can provide to your soil. As the leaves break down they act like a natural fertilizer and will slowly seep into the soil beneath the grass.

This effect is similar to how grass clippings can reduce your chemical fertilizer needs and improve the soil. It’s no secret that mulching leaves can benefit your lawn and keep grass healthy.

With that being said, there’s a sweet spot when it comes to the amount of leaves. Too many leaves can still block nutrients from reaching the soil, even after they have been mulched.

3. Reduces Waste

Mulching leaves is also much better for the environment. Bagging leaves and placing them by the curb for a garbage collection system takes up landfill space and also costs more money.

A large portion of all landscape waste is composed of bagged tree leaves. Many local governments in recent times have been looking at ways to reduce this kind of waste.

So, instead of using bags that take up landfills, you can mulch leaves to help reduce waste. It will not only be better for the environment, but it will also keep your lawn healthier as a result.

Cons of Mulching Leaves

Now that we’ve covered all of the pros to mulching leaves, let’s talk about the cons. Even though it can be great for your soil, some homeowners might not look prefer the look after mulching.

4. Not for Perfectionists

If you’re a perfectionist when it comes to lawn care, mulching leaves might not be the best method for you. It can take a few weeks for the leaves to break down into the soil.

As a result, that means you will have a yard full of shredded leaves. If you’re someone who likes to look at an immaculate lawn with perfect green grass, this can be a problem.

If looking at mulched leaves sounds like a headache to you, the better option is to bag them. You can use a bag attachment on your lawnmower and put the leaves in bags, or a compost pile.

5. Can Get Messy

In addition to being an eyesore, mulching leaves can get messy on occasion. This is most common if you decide to run the lawnmower over wet leaves, or on a windy day.

These are arguably the worst conditions for mulching. The blades will be working very hard over wet leaves and they might not even fully break down as a result.

You may need to do multiple passes in order to cut up the leaves. It can also be a pain mulching on a windy day. The leaves will be blowing all over the lawn and you will be fighting with the wind.

6. Doesn’t Always Work

In the most extreme cases mulching leaves isn’t always the best idea. This is more common in areas surrounded by trees. If there is a very thick layer of leaves you should not mulch.

We’re talking about places where there is a few inches of leaves covering the ground. Even after they get broken down with a lawnmower, the layer can still be too thick.

As you have learned by now, when the grass is not exposed to nutrients it can suffocate and die. The best thing to do if your yard has a lot of leaves is to mulch, bag, and create a compost pile.

Mulching Alternatives

Raking – If your lawnmower doesn’t have a mulch setting, you can always use a rake. This is the more traditional method of removing leaves from a lawn. It will require much more work and you will need to figure out how to get rid of the leaves when you’re finished.

Bagging – Some lawn mowers have a side or rear attachment for a bag. This is a great option if you don’t want to see any leaves across your yard. You will need to empty the bagger often and you can either bag the leaves, or throw them in a compost pile so they can break down.

Leaf blower – Another alternative method to mulching is using a leaf blower. This option really only works if you have a large yard with woods. All you need to do is blow the leaves to your property line and into the woods. There is no bagging required if you have the land.

6 Pros and Cons of Mulching Leaves

Why Mulch Leaves?