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March 12, 2010, 07:05:37 AM

Permaculture Forums | permaculture | lawn care | Topic: final mowing for the year

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final mowing for the year

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Brenda Groth
Posts: 1108

October 20, 2009, 07:01:19 AM

well i did something a little different this year..rather than raking up the leaves i actuall used my walk behind mower with the mulching blades on it and mowed them in place this year..now they are cut up into fine pieces all over the yard..or mulched in place.

i've never done that before..always figured there would be too many leaves and it would choke out the grass..but it worked really well.

we will still have a few more leaves fall yet (oak, shagbark maple, a few catalpa hang ons and lilac and perennnials) however..they will be easier to rake then everything (as you know i live in a very treed place).

so also it will be easier to rake the ones that do fall down now with the lawn mowed to a reasonable height..also easiler to plow and snowblow with the grass shorter..

so i'm ready for the snow to come..


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Brenda

Bloom where you are planted.

Gwen Lynn
Posts: 736

October 20, 2009, 08:29:40 PM

Quote from: Brenda Groth on October 20, 2009, 07:01:19 AM

so i'm ready for the snow to come..

I'm never actually ready for the snow. Never, ever ready.
No need for a white Christmas. My favorite Christmas song by Bing Crosby is "Mele Kalikimaka"! grin

I don't think we'll have to mow again. We could, but really don't have to. The Bermuda grass growth has really s-l-o-w-e-d down. DH mentioned mowing, and I'm like...why bother? The grass has quit for the winter. I'd like to "quit" for the winter! On a tropical island.


« Last Edit: October 20, 2009, 08:50:55 PM by Gwen Lynn »	Logged

Brenda Groth
Posts: 1108

October 21, 2009, 09:11:55 AM

it was so so funny that the day after I wrote this my Garden Gate magazine arrived and it had an article for putting your property to bed for the winter..(haven't read it all yet)..and it suggested doing just what I did..mowing the leaves with a mulching mower right where they are...honestly I was afraid to do so with them being quite heavy in some areas..but they really worked well that way..but alas..today..there are leave on top of the newly mown ones..in Michigan the leaves never all fall before tghe snow..so we always have some leaves on the ground in the spring..but at least a lot of them got their chopping ..


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Brenda

Bloom where you are planted.

jeremiah bailey
Posts: 338

Zone 5b - Central Indiana Suburban Subdivision

October 23, 2009, 12:57:07 PM

I've found that I have something in common with mulching mowers. I'd much rather roll through piles of leaves than cut grass. If you think about it, the grass is usually much more dense than a pile of leaves. Add to that leaves are dry dead plant material, vs. grass which is green and growing. Great way to add OM to the lawn without having to rake, compost and then spread back out to do essentially the same thing as mulching them direct in.

We still have two or three more mowings down here in Indiana. Can't wait for the snow! I'd rather throw snow balls than mow grass!


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"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." - Helen Keller
--
Jeremiah Bailey
Central Indiana

Brenda Groth
Posts: 1108

October 24, 2009, 07:14:27 AM

well i couldn't have hoped for a better day yesterday..the wind was hard out of the east and blew all the leaves that were coming down off our neighbor's tree into their own yard..but alas..there are still more than half of the leaves still on the tree..and a noreaster isn't the norm around here


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Brenda

Bloom where you are planted.

jeremiah bailey
Posts: 338

Zone 5b - Central Indiana Suburban Subdivision

October 24, 2009, 11:47:42 AM

I ask my neighbors if I can have their leaves. That way I can mulch my garden. But I only have one small tree on my property. Every leaf counts.


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"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." - Helen Keller
--
Jeremiah Bailey
Central Indiana

Brenda Groth
Posts: 1108

October 26, 2009, 07:37:33 AM

my yard is extremely well TREE'd so I don't need the neighbors leaves..and they have some kind of a disease on their leaves..looks like cigarette burns..so i don't want them in my yard..if they do land in my yard i rake them as a mulch under the evergreens along OUR property line..to keep them where they are naturally going to fall anyway..

about 90 % of my property is forested


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Brenda

Bloom where you are planted.

buddy110
Posts: 64

November 05, 2009, 06:58:21 PM

I'd rather suck up the leaves and throw them in my compost pile. I have a three bag mower so I can gather a lot of material quickly. I have no tress on my lot. I border some woods and get leaves on the perimeter, but that's it I need more leaves than I can get on my yard so I suck up my neighbors. They love me for it grin

It makes great compost when mixed with some greens.

The last cut of the year I cut as low as I can get without scalping. It helps keep down the snow mold.


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Jennifer Smith "listenstohorses"
Posts: 514

Zone 5 South West Missouri

November 06, 2009, 04:31:23 PM

Quote from: buddy110 on November 05, 2009, 06:58:21 PM

The last cut of the year I cut as low as I can get without scalping. It helps keep down the snow mold.

Would this then also apply to wintering pastures?


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