Leaf mulching brochure 4 panel2013

Uses for Leaf Mulch

Uses for Leaf Mulch Mulch as Compost Best practices for lawn care include adding a half-­‐inch layer of compost in a “top dressing” to the lawn each year. This is not always done as it is time consuming and costly. The same result can easily be achieved simply by mulching leaves right into lawns.

The mulched leaves fall between the grass blades and slowly decompose, nourishing the soil. Complete decomposition may not happen until spring.

Excess leaf mulch can be composted. It’s not necessary to mulch leaves (chop them into small pieces) to compost them, but it does speed up the composting process.

Leaf Mulching

Mulch as Protection

Volume Reduction

A few inches of mulch helps protect garden beds from extreme weather: In summer, mulch helps keep moisture in topsoil; in winter it helps moderate the temperature in garden beds, preventing heaving.

Mulching reduces leaf volume by a factor of ten.

Mulching-in-Place Why it’s good for lawns and gardens Why it’s good for the environment

Leaf mulch acts just like any other mulch, such as wood chips. But leaf mulch has some advantages over commercially purchased mulch: • It’s free! When you mulch your leaves, they are there, right on site, for you to use.

• You know where it came from. You know the history of disease or pesticide applications on your property.

• Leaf mulch decomposes relatively quickly, adding nutrients and organic matter to your soil.

For homeowners who like the look of commercial mulches, use the leaf mulch as an under layer and add an inch of commercial mulch on top.

Why it’s fiscally prudent New equipment for residential and commercial lawn mowers has made mulching-­‐in-­‐place, or leaf mulching, a viable alternative to the leaf removal methods commonly practiced throughout Westchester County. A “clean look” can now be achieved on lawns where leaves are mulched.

Gardeners who use leaf mulch to enrich their soils and protect their garden beds usually lament the fact that they “never have enough leaves.”

More information can be found at: www.leaveleavesalone.org www.leleny.org http://blogs.cornell.edu/horticulture/mulch

Leaf mulch is very easy to compost and has the significant advantage of being weed-­‐ free.

Compost can be added to the soil around annual, perennials, trees and shrubs to enrich the soil and improve soil structure.

Leaf Mulching

Cornell Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.

3 West Main Street, Suite 112, Elmsford, NY 10523-­‐2414

Mulching-in-Place FAQs Mulching-­‐in-­‐place means mowing leaves right where they fall. On lawns, leaves are mulched into the grass where they decompose, improving the soil.

Using a mulching mower, leaves can be mulched into lawns just where they fall; deep leaf piles can be mulched by repeated passes with the mower, or the leaves can be spread more thinly over the lawn, and mulched in place right there.

What if I Don’t Have Much Lawn? Leaves can be raked or blown off flowerbeds, slopes, rocks, etc. and mulched either with a lawn mower or a leaf shredder. The mulched leaves can be used in the garden or added to a compost pile. A lawnmower can be used to mulch leaves on a driveway, as long as it is a reasonably level surface. The mulched leaves can then be moved to where they are needed.

When is Mulching Done? Leaves can be mulched during both fall and spring clean up.

Can Wet Leaves Be Mulched? Mulching is most easily done with dry leaves but professional landscaper mowers equipped with mulching blades can mulch wet leaves very efficiently.

Disadvantages of Traditional Leaf Removal

The Many Advantages of Leaf Mulching

Blowing leaves to sidewalks for removal has many disadvantages:

♦ The chopped leaves fall right between the grass blades and “disappear” into the lawn. ♦ It’s a time saver. When you mow over leaves, you touch them once … and they are gone. No blowing back onto your property for the landscaper to repeatedly move back onto the street. ♦ No need for hours of raking or leaf blowing ♦ Chopped leaves decompose right into the lawn topsoil, adding nutrients to the soil ♦ Decomposed leaves add organic matter to the soil, helping lawns tolerate stress ♦ No need for your town to spend taxpayer money picking up leaves ♦ You have your own source of mulch

♦ It generates excessive leaf blower noise ♦ Leaf blowing removes valuable topsoil from garden beds ♦ It’s time consuming; no matter what size the yard, whether you use a rake and a tarp or a leaf blower, moving leaves takes time ♦ Leaf piles on roads and sidewalks can be hazardous ♦ Leaves piled on impervious surfaces, such as sidewalks or streets, can easily be washed into storm sewers and raise phosphorus levels in drinking water reservoirs. This can cause algal blooms and lower drinking water quality ♦ Leaf piles clog storm drains, causing flooding ♦ Piled leaves often blow around neighborhoods and have to be repeatedly returned to the street ♦ The practice requires landscapers or municipalities to remove leaves. This is extremely expensive, costing some municipalities hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. ♦ It generates unnecessary use of fossil fuels in trucking leaves to composting facilities.

Several municipalities truck leaves out of the county, some north of Albany.

Equipment and Resources

Mulching mowers mulch grass (leaving grass clippings on lawns – another CCE-­‐ recommended practice) as well as leaves.

They are equipped with special blades that keep the grass and leaves in the mower deck for multiple blade rotations to ensure that everything is chopped into small enough pieces to fall between grass blades and not leave a line of clippings behind.

Equipment for Homeowners Mulching mowers for residential use are readily available. On a regular mower, a mulching blade and a closed chute flap will mulch leaves and grass fairly effectively.

Equipment for Landscapers Commercial mowers for professional landscaper use can be equipped with relatively inexpensive devices for very efficient leaf and grass mulching. A mulcher blade, available at any mower equipment store or online, and a deck chute plate are very effective. There is also a device that can be attached to a mower deck that ensures that everything is cut to the size of a dime or smaller.

Leaf shredders, available at various online gardening sources, can be used as an alternative to mulching with a lawn mower.

The chopped leaves can then be placed back into flowerbeds and around shrubs, where they will slowly decompose, nourishing the soil.