What is mulching

What’s the Best Mower Height for Mulching Leaves?

Healthy leaves and grass is the pre-requisite of any yard/lawn. To maintain a lush green and healthy lawn, you have to be very careful with different things happening in the environment. One of the common problems in fall is that the leaves and roots are weak and your lawn grass is not growing healthy which is quite annoying for this purpose, people use the mulching option in lawn mowers to get the soil enriched and to protect the roots from the damage. An excellent technique to maintain a healthy lawn by doing mulching. Now the question is: What is mulching?

What is Mulching

The term “Mulching” refers to the protective layer to protect the soil and roots from any damage in different forms. The reason for mulching is to protect the lawn from moisture and fertility issues, maintain the soil’s health, reduce weed growth, and make your grass more healthy. Nowadays, almost every lawn mower come up with the option of mulching but if your lawn mower has no mulching option, you may find the mulching attachment for your lawn mower which is easily available on the market.

TYPES OF MULCHING

There are five types of mulching.

Organic

Naturally leaves fall into the soil and a layer of leaves formed in the surrounding area which is enriched and helpful for the soil enrichment.

In-organic

You can mulch the grass by using any suitable method like raking, mulching through lawn mower

Sheet Mulching

The term sheet mulching is defined as the layering of different organic materials like newspapers and cardboard in the portion of your lawn that you want to change. Layering uses these materials to block direct sunlight to the specific portion of your lawn and hence, improves the quality of your soil. Ultimately, fresh grass will cover the area, which is mulched through a sheet mulching procedure.

Hay Mulch

Another type known by a few gardeners and hobbyists to use Hay to mulch your lawn. The hay is used to retain the small places on your lawn to maintain moisture and quickly suppress weeds in your lawn. This method is very effective in a smaller portion to retain the moisture in your grass and protect it from getting thirsty.

Pine Straw Mulch

Another type of mulching is using Pine Straw. Generally, in the winter, people use pin straws to protect the lawn. Pine straw is readily available in the areas where pine trees are grown, and if you are not accessing any pine trees, you can buy it easily at a very cheap rate. These pine straws cover the area of your lawn you want to protect and save it from any environmental effects during the winter season. But, this kind of mulching depends upon the area where you are living.

LAWN MOWER HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT FOR PERFECT MULCHING

It is very crucial to select the correct height adjustment to mulch the lawn during the mowing. Many people are confused while setting the height adjustment to mulch. The perfect height for mulching is explained below:

Type of Grass
  • Bermuda Grass and Zoysia Grass
  • Kentucky Bluegrass and Buffalograss
  • Tall Fescue
Height Setting
  • 1 to 2 Inches approx
  • 2 to 3 Inches approx
  • 2.5 to 3.5 Inches approx 

The height will be adjusted according to the type of grass in your yard/lawn. However, the perfect and most suitable height adjustment for all lawn mowers lies between 2.5 Inches to 3 Inches which almost works in every kind of grass. So if you can’t know about the grass type of your yard you may adjust the height between 2.5 Inches to 3 Inches and set the height accordingly.

FACTORS THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BAD MULCHING THROUGH LAWN MOWER:

If you decide to mulch your lawn using a lawn mower you might be careful because one wrong step causes serious harm to your lawn mower engine and your lawn mower might be defective if its low power or general purpose lawn mower. These factors are

FREQUENTLY ASK QUESTIONS (FAQs)

The first point to consider while starting mulching is to wait that all the leaves to fall down because if your lawn is filled with leaves it is very difficult to mulch all the leave at one time and your lawn mower might suffer to mow and mulch the lawn. To address this issue always mulch the leave continuously after one or two weeks so that you can mulch easily it also increases the health of the growing roots and grass because you are not waiting for all the leaves to fall down and you mow with the little number of leaves on the lawn.

While mulching be careful that don’t mulch if the leaves are wet or dry because in both conditions you face problems while mulching and your mower does not mulch it correctly because of the too dry and wet leaves in your yard. So always consider the time while starting mulching.

If your lawnmower is too low for mulching leave, you have to raise the mower height or adjust the mowing pattern. You can also buy a mulching attachment for your lawnmower. The attachments are readily available in the market.

Experts recommend that to mow your lawn when mulching leaves every 5 to 7 days.

Yes, you must check the blades’ condition before mulching and ensure the blades are sharp and in good condition.

Nowadays, many companies design and manufacture lawnmowers with 3 in 1 option. This means the mulching feature is already provided with the mower, so you do not need to buy a specific mower for mulching. Mulching mowers are also available in the market.

CONCLUSION

Mulching is a very essential phenomenon to maintain a healthy lawn. Instead of bagging and through the grass clippings in the bin, you may use these clippings on the lawn by mulching so that your grass and roots are protected from mulching. Ideally, you set the height of your mower between 2.5 to 3 inches for good results and perfect mulching. Once you adjust the height correctly always set the height accordingly. For example, one time you start mulching with 2.5 inches height adjustment and you see it’s not effective then you slightly change it to 2.7 inches and gradually change the height. After finding the perfect height always mulch on the same height when you plan to mulch your yard/lawn.

Naveed Aanjum author

About Naveed A Hashmi

In my childhood, I used to see my parents while working in the land, for these reasons today I have been serving the same as our own tradition and culture. I thus love to stay in it, because I want to learn something advanced and new so that I may improve my farm’s contour and help others with my experience.

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