Autumn is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. The summer heat has dissipated, and the holidays are rapidly approaching.
However, there is one significant disadvantage to autumn, most of us will spend several hours on the weekend raking up the vast amount of leaves that fall on our lawns.
Fortunately, there are some very efficient ways to pick up leaves; just by using your lawnmower.
You don’t have to miss enjoying the beautiful weather, just implement these techniques. Let’s find out about them.
Best Ways to Pick Up Leaves Using a Mower
We’ve discussed some simple strategies for clearing leaves from your lawn efficiently and successfully in the fall.
The methods are:
Mulch Leaves With Your Mower
If your lawn has a few scattered leaves, the quickest approach to get rid of them is to mulch them with your lawnmower.
Shut down the side port that discharges grass clippings, and insert the mulch plug. The blades of the mower will slice the leaves into little pieces as you push it over them. So make sure to sharpen your blades using sharpening tools.
Those fragments will fall to the ground and be broken down by microbes.
Mulching leaves with your mower is the best way to get rid of them, not only because it saves time and labor, but the tiny fragments of leaves also add nutrients to your lawn as they degrade.
Mow and Collect
The mowing and collecting method is similar to the mulch approach; however, the lawnmower bag is attached instead of the mulch plug.
The blades of the mower will slice the leaves into tiny pieces as you push them over them, but instead of mulching them back onto the lawn, they will be crammed into the bag attachment, allowing you to quickly dump them into leaf bags.
Make sure your mower is set to the maximum setting to prevent picking up grass. If you don’t, the bag will quickly fill up, requiring you to empty it more regularly.
This method takes less time and effort than raking and chopping up the leaves.
How To Use Leaves After Picking Them?
The leaves can be used for many different purposes, such as
Adding leaves to a compost pile
One of the nicest brown ingredients you can use is leaves. It is possible to speed up the decomposition of the leaves by shredding them, although it is not required.
Composting your leaves is a quick and easy way to get some free organic fertilizer.
Compostable soil can be applied to your garden to fertilize and improve the soil.
Using leaves as a mulch material
Mulching with leaves is undoubtedly the most common approach to put them to good use.
Mulch serves as a protective covering over the soil’s surface. In this way, it aids in weed control while also maintaining and retaining soil moisture.
Using leaves as a fuel
Leaves and twigs make excellent fuel for starting a fire, whether it’s for a campfire or a fireplace.
You may keep a bag full of leaves in a dry, cold location and use them whenever you need to create a controlled fire.
What Will Happen If You Don’t Pick Leaves?
We discussed ways to get rid of leaves lying around. But why do we need to do it in the first place? Will they harm your lawn if kept untouched? Let’s learn
Leaves are as natural and organic as it gets. When in small quantities, it will not harm your landscape. Instead, as the leaves disintegrate and break down, they will give a readily available supply of nutrients for the plants and soil to use.
But, will a large number of leaves cause a problem?
Yes, indeed! Only if there is a dense bed of leaves that stops air and sunlight from reaching the lawn and might give potential concerns. For instance, if the leaves are piled high enough, they can suffocate the grass and soil beneath them.
They also have the ability to spread fungal disease to the lawn. And it could result in a rodent and snake infestation.
Conclusion
A lawnmower is a multi-purpose machine that can mow the lawn as well as pick up leaves. Mulching and leaf bagging are two strategies for removing leaves from your nice lawn.
It will make it very easy for you, and you will not miss the pleasant weather.
It is important to clean the lawn mower after every session as the small pieces can get into the engine and the carburetor may lead to improper functioning of the mower.
Try composting leaves to save money on fertilizers while also putting them to good use.
