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Pros and Cons of Mulching Leaves.
Mulching is the process where you cover the area around the plants you want to grow with toppings such as fallen leaves or grass clippings.
Mulching leaves will mostly require you to have the right equipment such as lawnmower bearing blades designed for that purpose.
This practice is sometimes preferred overraking and it carries a fair share of both benefits and limitations.
Pros Of Mulching Leaves
- Quick and easy. For starters, mulching using a lawnmower is easy on the human body as opposed to when you have to twist and turn during raking. It is a much quicker process that saves you the stress of raking, gathering and collecting the leaves for disposal.
- Value addition to soil. The effect of mulching of leaves on soil is why the process is worthwhile. Depending on the type of mulch you are using, the soil is set to benefit from this value addition which presents itself as well-grown crops and in the case of a yard, appealing green grass cover. This is normally a product of microorganisms breaking down the mulch which forms humus in the process. Humus is famous in the science world for its rich nutrient makeup.
- Helps during harsh weather conditions. Protection of the turf even in exposure to extreme weather conditions is important and with the addition of leaf mulch, this is made possible. During the hot summers, the ground if left exposed can lose a good amount of water that can easily be retained by mulching.
- Waste reduction. Most bags used to dispose of the leaves collected are usually made from plastic, a potentially harmful material if dumped carelessly into the environment. However, with mulch, it decomposes provides nutrients to bugs and worms in the soil that are beneficial to some plants as well.
- Saves money. Imagine not having to invest in a given fertilizer to ensure you have a flourishing lawn, cool right? Then you may need to go the mulching leaves way because it is close to enough of what your lawn will need as a nutrient source. This way even the need to use water sprinklers to maintain a green lawn will be limited.
Related:6 Best Lawn Mower for Mulching Leaves
Cons of Mulching Leaves
- Can be a messy affair! If mulching is done especially with damp leaves, be sure of it getting stuck on your boots or shoes every time you move over it. It is also bad news for your lawnmower as it may clog some of the parts. Also, when it is windy some of the mulched leaves could get blown to your porch causing a not-so-tidy appearance.
- How much is enough? Mulching leaves is good but only if done correctly. Applying too much to a given area can cause discoloration or even kill off the plants growing there. Therefore, mulched leaves should be applied evenly over the soil surface to avoid heaping a huge clump on one part that could prove more harmful than beneficial.
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