How To Feed Your Lawn And Manage Fall Leaves...Naturally

Get your kids to do it! Just kidding. I still have a few more years before I will have my very own landscaping crew. But seriously, this is a way to feed your lawn with leaves and grass clippings. It saves time, reduces the need for watering, provides a free source of fertilizer, and cuts out the raking. What more could you ask for?




Materials:

  • Mulching Mower ( every power mower made after 1994 has grasscycling or mulching setting so consult your manual and remove the bag on the back if using.)

How To Feed Your Lawn With Grass Clippings

Directions: (cut it high and dry, let it lie)
  • Set your mower blade to 2.5-3.5 inches
  • Mow when your grass is dry and 3-4 inches tall
  • Remove no more than 1/3 the grass blade per mowing
  • Every 35 gallon can of grass clippings contains one-quarter pound of organic nitrogen! So leave your grass clipping ON the lawn.

How To Feed Your Lawn By Mulching Fall Leaves

Directions:
  • Set mower blade to 2.5-3.5 inches
  • The Michigan State University Turf Institute Researchers state that 2 passes with a mulching mower over 6 inches of fall leaves will mince even leathery oak leaves into small pieces that will "melt" into the turf within a few days and add nutrient to the soil.* 
A Note About Thatch:
  • There is a persistent myth that leaving leaves on your lawn will cause thatch but this is not true. Check out the links below for more information.

* Ann Arbor Waste Watcher Fall/Winter 2010/2011

More Research about leaf mulching is available at these websites: 



https://secure2.ewashtenaw.org/hosting/iote/2009/IotE_091028.mp3   (its a little long but full of great information.)

Happy Mulching!

Link Parties~

3 comments:

  1. The Pennington PointOctober 11, 2010 at 10:29 AM

    Really great thoughts. And fortunately for me, my kids ARE old enough to do the work....sweet! LOL! I love your blog. It's so fresh and fun, but covers interesting topics. I'm off to read about corn and tomatoes and whatever else looks good (probably everything). Thanks! Lisa~

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 11, 2010 at 3:36 PM

    Excellent tips ... and it saves all those plastic bags of leaves from heading to the landfill.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sarah, Three BoysOctober 12, 2010 at 8:52 PM

    SF: Our area has such a great program for yard waste. Each house gets a wheely cart to put our yard waste into. The city uses this for a giant compost pile! You can also add your kitchen scrapes as long as it is fruit and veggies. The only problem is that it stops in December and doesn't start up again until April.

    PP: Thank you again for stopping by! I don't know how you do it with 9! But I'm sure your yard looks great:)

    ReplyDelete

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