The Definitive Guide to Mulching Leaves with a Riding Mower

Mulching leaves with a riding mower is a great way to reduce the amount of leaves in your yard. It is also a good way to recycle nutrients back into your lawn. Leaf mulching is easy and only takes a few minutes.

This guide will provide you with leaf mulching tips using a riding mower so that your yard looks immaculate.

What Is Mulching?

Mulching in the fall is when you cut the leaves into shreds and drop them back on the lawn. This can be done with a walk behind mower, a leaf blower/vacuum, a zero turn mower or a riding mower. Technically, a zero turn mower is a riding mower.

However, for this guide, we will limit ourselves to a riding mower with a mowing deck that is under the carriage of the machine.

Why Is Mulching Leaves With A Riding Mower Beneficial?

Mulching leaves with a lawn mower is beneficial for several reasons. First, it helps to keep your lawn looking impeccable. Second, it returns nutrients to the soil that are beneficial for the growth of your grass. And third, it reduces the amount of work you have to do in the fall when leaves are falling from the trees.

I mean, come on! It’s football season. You can’t watch football if you’re outside raking leaves. Plus, the days get shorter in fall, so there’s not enough time to do all you need to do anyway. I can’t think of a better reason for you to consider mulching leaves instead of raking.

Mulching leaves is better for the environment. Mulching leaves is essentially recycling them and using them as compost for your lawn. Unlike bagging leaves, you are not adding to the landfill problem and you are actually helping to improve the quality of your soil.

If you are looking for a way to reduce the amount of work you have to do in the fall and also help the environment, then mulching leaves with a riding mower is definitely the way to go!

How Does Mulching With A Riding Mower Work?

Using a mulching mower to mulch is a great way to reduce the amount of leaves and debris in your yard. It works by using the blades of the mower to chop up the tree leaves and debris into smaller pieces.

The small pieces decompose and return the nutrients back onto the lawn. You will improve the health of your lawn for free.

How Do You Properly Set Up Your Riding Mower For Mulching Leaves?

There are a few things you need to do before you mulch, to make sure you set your mower up properly.

The first thing to do, if you haven’t already, is to put mulching blades on your mower. These blades are specially designed to chop the leaves and other debris into tiny pieces. Be sure to get the blades that are for your make and model of mower.

Next, you will need a discharge chute plug. This will block the leaves from blowing out the side and allow them to be chopped up by the mulching blades.

You can actually buy mulching kits for some brands of riding mowers. These kits will include the mulching blade and the chute block.

Finally, set the deck height to 2 ½ to 3 inches. This is the ideal height for mulching leaves. It gives the right amount of airflow and clearance for the blades to do their work.

What Are Some Common Mistakes People Make When Mulching Leaves With A Riding Mower?

When mulching leaves with a riding mower, it’s important to avoid making common mistakes that can damage your lawn.

One mistake is mulching when the leaves are wet. Wet leaves can clump together and cause your mower to clog. It is best to wait until the leaves dry out before mulching.

Although, mulching wet leaves will still chop them up somewhat. This will also spread them out so they will dry quicker. Then, you can go out and run over them again after they are dry.

Another mistake is using the wrong blade. You can use a regular blade for mulching, but the result will not be as good. A mulching blade, on the other hand, will chop the leaves up finely and evenly, resulting in a tidy lawn.

Going too fast while mulching leaves doesn’t give the best results. In order for the mulching blade to work, it has to have time to chop the leaves multiple times. If you go too fast, the blades won’t be able to do a good job.

Some people wait until all the leaves have fallen before they mulch. It is better to mulch multiple times throughout the fall. That way the mower can do a better job because it isn’t having to deal with a huge amount of leaves. Plus, some of the mulched leaves will already be decomposing by the end of fall.

What Are The Benefits Of Mulching Leaves With A Riding Mower?

With mulching leaves, there are a few different ways that you can go about it. You can use a traditional push mower and simply rake the leaves up into a pile before running over them with the mower. Or, you can attach a bag to your mower and have it collect the leaves as you go. But the best way to mulch leaves is with a riding mower. Here are some benefits:

• It saves time – A riding mower will make quick work of a large leaf pile and will leave your lawn looking clean and manicured. Plus, you won’t have to worry about raking up all the leaves first – the mower will do it for you!
• It does a better job – Your riding mower has a bigger engine than a walk behind mower. This extra power provides you with a superior result when mulching leaves.
• It’s good for the environment – When you mulch leaves, you are essentially recycling them and using them as compost for your lawn. This means that you are not adding to the landfill problem and you are actually helping to improve the quality of your soil.

So if you’re looking for an easy way to deal with all those fallen leaves this autumn, be sure to break out the riding mower!

Steps for Using Riding Mowers For Mulching Leaves

1. Set up your riding mower for mulching by adding mulching blades and a chute blocker.
2. Before you mulch, go around the sides of your house and other buildings and obstacles with a rake or leaf blower. The purpose of this is to get a complete job. Pulling the leaves out so the riding mower can get to them will ensure you get a great result.
3. Set the deck to the correct height and mow slowly over the leaves. You can tell pretty quickly by looking at where you have just mulched how good of a job the mower is doing.
4. If you have an abundance of leaves and the mower couldn’t deal with them well enough to suit you, put your bag attachment on and suck up the remaining mulched leaves. There will be far less than before you started. You can place the mulch around trees or shrubs or even in a garden spot.

It’s a good idea to do this multiple times on a weekly or bi-weekly basis for the best results.

Other Things to be Aware of When Mulching Leaves With A Riding Mower?

Make sure you wear proper safety equipment. Mulching dry leaves can stir up a lot of dust, pollen and mold. So wear a particle mask to prevent inhaling any of it.

If your mower is loud, put on some kind of hearing protection. You can suffer hearing loss if you are exposed to continuous loud noise for a prolonged period.

Make sure you keep your blade sharp. A sharp blade with mulch the leaves into small particles much easier.

Check the air filter on the mower. With all the dust flying around, you can plug the air filter up and cause the mower to perform poorly.

If you have too many leaves, you can mow over them multiple times to break them down better.

Conclusion

Mulching leaves with a riding mower is a great way to save time and reduce yard waste. It is also beneficial because it chokes out weeds, returns nutrients to the soil, and helps the soil retain moisture.