Should You Mulch Leaves or Bag Them?

Fall is here, and with it comes the task of leaf cleanup. If you’re in New England like me, that often means several weekends of raking, piling and bagging leaves. This year, I’m considering mulching them with my lawn tractor instead. Both bagging and mulching have their pros and cons, each affecting your lawn’s health in different ways. In this article, we’ll break down the benefits and drawbacks of each method, with expert insights from Jeremy Martin of Willow Gates Landscaping.

What Is Mulching Leaves?

Mulching leaves means to cut them into small pieces to reduce their volume and hasten decomposition. Mulched leaves are typically returned to the soil, but can be bagged up and removed.

How to Mulch Leaves

You can use a lawn mower or leaf mulcher to mulch leaves.

With the bag off your lawn mower, go over the leaves as though cutting the lawn. The blades will shred the leaves into small pieces, then distribute them across your lawn. Mulching works well for light leaf litter that doesn’t exceed the mower deck, but thick layers can overwhelm the blades and cause the mower to shut down. To avoid this, mulch regularly as leaves accumulate.

A leaf mulcher is a power tool that shreds leaves with blades or string. Handheld models suck in leaves and collect the shredded material in attached bags, making them ideal for small amounts of leaves. Larger stand-alone models require raking and piling leaves but can quickly handle larger volumes.

Pros and Cons of Mulching Leaves

Mulching leaves with a mower adds nutrients like phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium to the soil as the leaves break down. Smaller pieces of leaves also add organic matter to the soil, promoting moisture retention.

On the other hand, if mulched leaves are too thick on your lawn, it can smother grass and kill it. “They will form a wet, dense mat,” Martin says. And if you like a pristine lawn free of all debris, you will not like mulching leaves into your grass.

Pros and Cons of Bagging Leaves

Bagging leaves makes it easier to contain and transport leaves for disposal. Some municipalities even offer curbside pickup of bagged leaves. Raking and bagging leaves also protects your lawn from layers of decaying leaves, which can harm the grass through the winter. And for a tidy lawn, nothing beats bagging leaves.

However, raking and bagging leaves is more time-consuming than mulching, and it can also be more expensive if you’re buying bags or paying for disposal. Plus, by bagging, your lawn misses out on the natural nutrients that mulched leaves would provide.

Mulching vs. Bagging Leaves: Which Is Right for Me?

“It’s really situational,” Jeremy Martin of Willow Gates Landscaping says of mulching vs bagging leaves. It will largely depend on the amount of leaves you can expect each fall. “If you live in dense woods as I do, mulching leaves will kill the lawn,” he says. In this case, you’ll need to bag leaves or blow them off the property into the woods.

If you only have a few trees and a moderate amount of leaf cleanup, you have the option of mulching your leaves or bagging them. “If you don’t have a lot of trees, you can mulch leaves, and you’d be fine,” Martin says.

About the Expert

• Jeremy Martin is owner of Willow Gates Landscaping in Mohnton, Pennsylvania, which he founded in 2005. He shares his passion for the industry by teaching installer courses for retaining walls, concrete pavers, permeable pavers and advance hardscape projects, plus speaking at industry events.