I was optimistic. I really wanted not to rake.
Two things to consider in my testing:
- I did not use 'mulching' blades. I have straight blades with side discharge.
I think this makes a difference.
- I am neurotic.
ok... so -- here is the front yard 'before':
Notice in the after picture. The lawn is nice and tidy.
The street -- not so much. Oopsie.
In the side yard for example - here are the leaves under our high maintenance magnolia tree.
After cutting - it left me with a pile of leaves that will need to be raked.
Also in the side yard...before and after.
(notice the clear line between our lawn and our neighbors. That's because he has the coveted Cyclone Rake.)
Also a pile that will need to be removed.
I won't say this is a bad idea. If you have a mulching mower, and set the deck height higher than I did (I was trying to get the grass cut low as well). And you are less concerned about how the lawn looks this fall - this method may work well for you.
As for us... well the pictures show only a small portion of what we still need to rake. So enough blogging... I need to get back to work.
8 comments:
When I bought my house, the front yard was very bare. The grass was St. Augustine. I did everything known to man to get it to spread, but it just wouldn't. Finally I bought some Fescue seed, and watered the heck out of it for 10 days. It came up beautiful. I did this in late summer/early fall. The manufacturer recommended not to let leaves pile up on it. I was diligent about following thier advice, but In the dead of winter, when it's very wet and cold, you just can't always do that. Sure enough,in places where leaves piled up, it kill the grass. Fortunately, this summer, the St. Augustine is finally trying to spread and mix into the fescue. I hear so many confilicting stories about whether to rake, not rake, mulch, not mulch, blah blah blah. I seem to give them all a try until I find out what works for me. Your yard is beautiful, by the way, and as for those leaves in the street, they'll blow away.
We have handy little leaf machines that sweep up the leaves from the curbside every two weeks until it snows - which in Canada could be any day now.
I love your trees. I'd happily rake for you if I could just live in your back yard for a little while.
Wow. Can you come to my house? My yard is the size of a postage stamp, but I still hate raking and feel your method is far superior. I'll let you have one of my Diet Cokes....
Thanks for the update. I have a mulching mower, so I am going to give it a try after work today. Your lawn is soooo green! wow!
Hehehe, I really wondered how long this "no raking" pact would last. ;)
So how does it look after all this wild weather? Ours looks like we never touched it.
Man, that pile of leaves is bigger than my entire yard!
I just got done pulling out the crabgrass by HAND. Reseeded and so forth - now let's see if the birds eat all the seed or I'll have some actual grass next year.
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