# Better leaf mulching with damp leaves



## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

We just had a bunch of rainfall which brought a ton of leaves down with it off the tree in the front lawn. The lawn itself didn't really need to be cut since I just did it yesterday but I figured I'd do a quick mulch on the leaves. I'm finding my mower is leaving a much cleaner looking lawn with the leaves being damp.

When I mulch dry (light) leaves many of them don't actually get mulched because they get scattered by the air turbulence created by the mower, the scattering sends many whole leaves back onto the already mowed section giving an ugly appearance to the finished result. The heavier leaves stay put so the mower blade gets to each of them. The mower still seems to have enough suction to lift the leaves when wet. Make sense?

Anyone else mow their leaves when damp?

Mowing damp leaves


Mowing dry leaves


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## jabopy (Nov 24, 2018)

No, I pick them up and stick them on the compost heap. I only mow mulch dry because my lawn turns into a mud bath when wet. :evil:


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## dport (Oct 13, 2019)

Tried this today on my backyard with excellent results! The moisture kept the leaves in place so I could mulch them easily.


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## Babaganoosh (Apr 21, 2019)

I've been bagging mine due to a renovation. I wonder if slightly damp leaves shoot into the catcher better without blowing out the front right corner.


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## AGMcL13 (Aug 21, 2019)

My only concern would be a buildup of wet grass clippings/mulched leaves on the underside of the deck. I guess with your mower you may not experience any issues but I'd have to imagine a normal push mower may bog down.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

I use mine on dry leaves and put it on discharge. It is a honda so it discharges to the rear and seems to also be slightly to the left. With it on discharge, it vacuums very well and no leaves escape anywhere. Since I use it on discharge, it doesn't chop them super fine in one go as there is still some leaf material left so I do make a second pass. I also mow in counter clockwise circles due to the slight left angle of discharge out the back. A second pass on the thickest parts chops it all up. The honda mower does have 2 blades so I guess it does a decent job of mulching even on discharge.

If I use it on mulch mode, it does seem to blow out the bottom and makes it harder to mow the leaves so I can see why you prefer damp leaves. I would be concerned about buildup though since it does happen with wet grass. I also find wet leaves tend to stick to any exposed soil where the grass isn't really thick. With my mower on discharge, set to 1.75", it seems to suck up most of the stuck leaves on the dirt also which it doesn't do on mulch mode.


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## jcs43920 (Jun 3, 2019)

Yeah I noticed it the other day when I mowed. Sometimes in the fall you end up getting more rainfall and almost have to mow when it's a little damp.

I found what works good for me when there are a ton of leaves on the ground is just doing a real quick clean up the bulk of the leaves. Because if there is a massive amount it can clog the mower and leave mass clippings behind that can get wet and cause bare spots. I just blow as many into a couple piles as I can quickly get in about 10-15 minutes leaving some behind that are stuck to the grass then bagging the bulk pile and mowing whatever else is left over. This works great and you can't even tell you cut up the remaining leaves.

It is just such a time consuming process to rake up every single leave especially since you know by the next day more are going to fall back on your lawn of your neighbors leaves will blow in.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

I know what you guys mean regarding buildup. With grass, if I mulch mow when wet I get clumps of grass dumped periodically behind the mower and the stuff gets caked to the deck underside.

It doesn't seem to happen with with wet leaves, and in this case I was cutting above the grass so only mowing leaves. I didn't check under the deck afterwards but I will next time.

This year I'm trying to mow very frequently in the fall so I don't end up with so much on the lawn that I have to bag, and hopefully my turf is happy for the extra OM.


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

I wonder if I can use this method to bag leaves out of the street and move onto lawn. Typically the will move around.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

I have been trying to bag leaves this fall. Have too many trees and the storms just dumped leaves this year. Combined with travel the leaves have really gotten stuck to the soil.

That being said the mulch function has been decent for me in both damp and dry leaves. I get the advantage of getting clippings and the leaves in one bag... there is going to be a giant pile of compost next year!


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

I've also noticed that damp leaves tend to mulch a little better, especially the small Red Maple leaves. They're very pliable and tend to squirt out from the edges of the deck. The Red Oak leaves are very brittle, so it doesn't matter as much.

I prefer to side discharge them and use a combination of patterns; inward spiral, back and forth, and Zamboni style (overlapping ovals). This helps maintain excellent suction to pull up matted leaves and mince the leaves into pieces smaller than a pencil eraser. They will break down quickly with the microherd still awake a little bit longer. I did this yesterday and threw the chute and mulch plug back on with the striping kit for my front lawn. I made the equivalent of about 20 grass catcher bagfuls disappear in about an hour, with it barely noticable. A Gator blade is a game changer for leaf mulching, and bags pretty well too.

There was a thread last year on the subject, so you might find some helpful info there. If I come across it, I'll post the link.


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

Sucked up leaf from the street and threw on lawn with one pass after the dumping.

I think dampness helped pick them up but made it harder to get them down to confetti size.

Funny moment, i never bag and forgot the timemaster has a plug in the leaf chute... was dumbfounded for a couple of minutes.

@uts 
I cant see a scenario except new renovation or theres so many that its smothering the lawn. I have a ton of leaves like that is my dream.
Bagging leaves is the biggest marketing scham in the history of The American Lawn. Mulch em in folks, mulch em in.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Thick n Dense said:


> @uts
> I cant see a scenario except new renovation or theres so many that its smothering the lawn. I have a ton of leaves like that is my dream.
> Bagging leaves is the biggest marketing scham in the history of The American Lawn. Mulch em in folks, mulch em in.


So my situation is a little unique. My house is at the bottom of a hill so when it rains all the water kind of comes down. My backyard is much more dry than my front. Today I could feel the grass tearing when I was walking with my mower. The trees are mostly here as well. This results in soggy ground, leaves dumped from about 15 trees planted in a liner fashion. If I mulch and walk more than once it becomes a mud pile.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

uts said:


> Thick n Dense said:
> 
> 
> > @uts
> ...


Do you have the ability to side discharge? It really helps to pull up matted leaves and mince them, and to dry out the lawn.


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## uts (Jul 8, 2019)

Chris LI said:


> uts said:
> 
> 
> > Thick n Dense said:
> ...


Have it in the ztr but taking that in the soggy area is a receipe for tearing grass and getting stuck. My walk behind is a honda hrr and only has a rear discharge which is worse because you then step on it and push it further down. Started bagging for that reason. A lot of work but looks great


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Gotcha


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

I edited my first post to show the difference between dry and wet leaves. This might be specific to my mower... I've often felt my mower is terrible at mulching under most circumstances.


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

I jacked 15 bags of mulched leaves from the neighborhood streets the other night... cant wait to spread and mow in ... hehe

First year doing this, I know I looked crazy... :bandit:


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

Thick n Dense said:


> I jacked 15 bags of mulched leaves from the neighborhood streets the other night... cant wait to spread and mow in ... hehe
> 
> First year doing this, I know I looked crazy... :bandit:


I've been tempted to do this too, but I'm a bit afraid of raking stuff out of neighbour's ditches being that many of them are a cesspool of unmanaged weeds :shock: :lol:


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

davegravy said:


> Thick n Dense said:
> 
> 
> > I jacked 15 bags of mulched leaves from the neighborhood streets the other night... cant wait to spread and mow in ... hehe
> ...


Its a risk you gotta take ... The best finds are the brown bags that have been mulched ... gotta assume if a home owner does this they also take care of their lawn. Always a risk though.


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## Methodical (May 3, 2018)

I don't like mulching leaves into my lawn as I don't think they break down fast enough to be of any benefit in the cold weather. I blow them to the street, mulch and bag them for the county to collect them and make compost.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Methodical said:


> I don't like mulching leaves into my lawn as I don't think they break down fast enough to be of any benefit in the cold weather. I blow them to the street, mulch and bag them for the county to collect them and make compost.


Maybe you could try a section which has a lot of sun exposure and the soil temps are higher. I used to get every single leaf out of the lawn and every bed, every week. It was insanity. Once I started embracing mulching, it was much better. You can split the difference and put the bag on and pick up the larger particles, for a clean look, after mulching. If you can side discharge, you can turn the leaves into powder (by running over them several times), so they break down more quickly. Later in the season, when temps drop, I'll bag to replenish the natural mulch in my vegetable garden. After years of doing this, my garden soil is awesome! Just think about all the OM you can be adding to your lawn.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@Methodical once you mulch mow, these guys take care of the rest in no time.


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## rockinmylawn (Mar 25, 2018)

If you are getting a lot of leaves - like everyday & you can't mulch mow everyday, I would think hitting them once a week could leave a smothered lawn - true?


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

rockinmylawn said:


> If you are getting a lot of leaves - like everyday & you can't mulch mow everyday, I would think hitting them once a week could leave a smothered lawn - true?


I think it depends on how many leaves you're dealing with. My backyard gets almost no leaves all fall. My frontyard gets the leaves from my tree plus most of the trees on the street since I'm at the end of a road and my yard is like a catch basin.

I think you really just have to pay attention to what your mower is doing and make a judgement call about bagging vs mulching.

In other news, we're getting some wild weather here this year. Leaves are only half down on our street and last night we got over a foot of snow. I've never seen this happen - snow always waits for the leaves... I'm not too sure what to do.

Hopefully we'll have a melt at some point so I can finish raking/mulching what falls in the next couple weeks?


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

rockinmylawn said:


> If you are getting a lot of leaves - like everyday & you can't mulch mow everyday, I would think hitting them once a week could leave a smothered lawn - true?


Yeah...I did that last year. I ended up thinning out a section of lawn due to mulching too many leaves too fast, and all I could see after was leaf dust with some grass showing through. I pulled out a bunch of leaf litter a few times over the Winter while raking leaves. They didn't break down fully until like May. I won't be making that mistake again.

I also no longer mulch leaves into damp/shaded areas, as it promotes water retention, and the roots of the grass can start rotting from being matted into a muck. Not to mention, it leaves tire ruts from the mower when it's damp. So, I use the blower instead of the lawn mower.

Last week, I mulched leaves during light rain. What a mess (in both the grass and mower). I don't recommend doing that.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

davegravy said:


> In other news, we're getting some wild weather here this year. Leaves are only half down on our street and last night we got over a foot of snow. I've never seen this happen - snow always waits for the leaves... I'm not too sure what to do.
> 
> Hopefully we'll have a melt at some point so I can finish raking/mulching what falls in the next couple weeks?


Happened to me last November...10 inches of snow on top of leaves and there were still more left to come down. I was mulch mowing into December after it melted, and using the blower until Christmas (which is typical).

Not sure about where you are, but here early-season snow is pretty short-lived. I think that 10 inches melted within a week or so.


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## Methodical (May 3, 2018)

g-man said:


> @Methodical once you mulch mow, these guys take care of the rest in no time.


I'm aware of the benefit of earth worms and what they do, but they are not this active when the ground is at or below freezing, which is the time of the year when I get, not only my leaves, but my neighbor's leaves, too. This is the same reason why it's not suggested to use Milorganite or organic fertilizers during the cold time of the year because the ground is not warm enough for microbial activity.

This is an experiment where they've simulated soil and added leaves, but I bet the temperature is well above freezing for them to be this active. Spring time maybe good, but I still don't do it. Now, I may mulch if there are minimal amounts of leaves on the lawn and I mean minimal.


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## Methodical (May 3, 2018)

Chris LI said:


> Methodical said:
> 
> 
> > I don't like mulching leaves into my lawn as I don't think they break down fast enough to be of any benefit in the cold weather. I blow them to the street, mulch and bag them for the county to collect them and make compost.
> ...


I do get a lot of OM from those leaves once the county makes the organic material and resells it to the residence. I buy the OM in the spring that the county makes and top dress the lawn and based on my soil tests, my OM is higher than the average. As a matter of fact, I pulled soil samples 6-8" and notice how rich the soil looks (my lawn was basically all clay when we built). I will be sending the soil samples to 2 places for comparison.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Gotcha


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## Thick n Dense (May 7, 2019)

Its ok for the leaves to stick around until spring...

Worms will eat them then as well as the herd.

Just need to be choopped up enough so that it sifts between the blades. Kind of like leveling with sand.


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