Leaf Mulching - Making Lawn Fertilizer - Applying Lawn Feed - Fall Lawn Care Tips

Soil Enrichment From Fall Leaves

Now is the time begin your fall lawn care with leaf mulching and making lawn  fertilizer from your fall leaves which is a great way to get soil enrichment. Nature beautifully displays the trees in your yard with rusty, ruby reds, shimmering sunny yellows and exotically golden oranges, you can easily get carried away the artistic brilliance of the season. That is until those lovely fall leaves fade, turn brown, drop and unattractively litter your lawn.

This Fall take the opportunity to work with Nature and mulch those fall leaves instead of raking, bagging and sending them to the landfill.

Leaf mulching is environmentally friendly and a time-saving method of recycling fall leaves. Also, maybe you live in an area that has reduced it's collection services to save money. If that is the case, then mulching gives you something to do with those leaves instead of leaving them to litter your lawn or throwing them away.

"It doesn't make sense to rake leaves and bag them, just to have them end up decomposing in a landfill," says Dr. Phil Dwyer, senior scientist at The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. "Leaf mulching recycles a natural resource and enriches the soil of your lawn for free."

In fact, turf benefits by receiving more nutrients when you mulch fall leaves back into the lawn instead of raking them, according to a study by Michigan State University turfgrass researcher Thom Nikolai and ScottsMiracle-Gro scientists. Recycling fallen leaves saves time and money, adds nutrients to the soil, speeds spring greening and reduces weeds.

Fall Lawn Care: Here's how to recycle those fall leaves by making lawn fertilizer through leaf mulching

* Remove the grass catcher from your lawn mower. Mow over the leaves on your lawn. Repeat until they are reduced to dime-sized pieces.

* Mow until you see about half an inch of grass through the mulched leaf layer.

Any type of rotary-action mower can do the work, and all types of leaves can be successfully mulched. Throughout the season a total of 18 inches leaf clutter can be chopped with several passes of the mower. A thick layer of mulched leaves is alright provided you can still see green blades of grass protruding. As bits of leaf work their way into the ground, tiny microbes and beneficial worms begin recycling them.

Once you've enriched your soil with leaf mulching, remember the best time to apply lawn feed is in the fall. Just a few simple steps will go a long way to ensuring that your green lawn will be strong beyond next season.

* After the leaf mulching, feed your lawn with Scotts Turf Builder WinterGuard fall lawn fertilizer to help build strong, deep roots for a better foundation and a more robust lawn next year. The nitrogen in the fertilizer will also help the mulched leaves decompose faster. Be sure to sweep excess fertilizer off hard surfaces like driveways and sidewalks.

* After applying lawn feed, spread seed where needed. To reseed your bare spots, dig up bare areas, mix in compost, sow your seeds and cover with more compost. If the weather is dry, keep the seeded soil moist until new grass begins to grow. Seeding autumn bare spots will thicken the lawn and make it more resistant to future bare spots.

To learn more about leaf mulching and Fall lawn care, visit www.scotts.com.
Courtesy of ARAcontent

Leaf Mulching - Making Lawn Fertilizer - Applying Lawn Feed - Fall Lawn Care Tips

Soil Enrichment From Fall Leaves