What is Leaf Mulcher?

We all love our backyards or lawns with beautiful green trees and shrubs, where you can do family activities, meditate or play with your kids. There are so many memories associated with these spaces. With all these activities there comes a responsibility of managing fallen leaves and keeping the areas clean and healthy. Handling fallen leaves is a headache, truth to be told. So, let us help you to understand how can you use these natural wastes to your advantage.

What is leaf mulcher?

The best option is using a best leaf mulcher. It helps you to shred or grind the leaves and other waste of trees and shrubs like small branches, twigs and flowers. A leaf mulcher is tool that has various series of blades designed to chip natural waste is to small pieces. That can be then used for mulching in your own garden or lawn or it can also be added in the compost pile.

Let’s understand more about it to make firm decision:

What is Mulch?

Mulching is environmentally helpful method to treat soil, eventually improving the fertility and the structure of soil. It is made out of waste material from your house. It is an organic material, used to cover the area to keep it moist. That helps to reduce weeds and unwanted grass and plants. This way it will also take care of your carbon footprint.

Advantages of Leaf Mulcher and Mulching:

• There are some important building blocks for plant growth in the waste material of your yard in ready to use condition.

• The most important benefit of mulch is it keeps soil cooler. It is more helpful in hot and dry climates. The layer of mulch stops wind from blowing away the top soil which has maximum nutrients for plants. The layer also takes care of erosion, caused by wind or heavy rains.

• This mulching technic is being used from pretty old times by farmers for good harvest. It is an old, simple way to keep soil fertile. Contents of mulch have minerals and keeps plants healthy. Rain makes the process easier and faster because it makes soil porous to seep in the mulch nutrients.

• Mulching reduces the hard labour making it an efficient process. Weed growth can be minimalised if layering is started before, they appear.

• The issues of fruit rot and fugus disease in plants can be limited by keeping distance between the soil and fruits or leaves with the process of mulching. This is especially needed for garden fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and melons.

• The studies show that the nutrition of mulch increases the levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the soil due to mulching compared to other solutions.

• Usually wet soils also called low-lying soils should not be mulched. These soils increase the chances of fungus diseases and spread quickly in humid and moist conditions.

• Even before putting in the compost pile it will be useful if mulching is done as it considerably increases the decomposition process.

Mulching material:

The reason this process is easy is also because there is unlimited material that can be used. And this material is mostly waste of your house and locally available. This action is beneficial for nature and you both. It is a win-win situation. The whole cycle is mostly natural and organic reducing carbon footprint. Let’s see what all material we can use.

Grass, flowers, twigs, wood shavings, bagasse, rice straw, rice hulls, bamboo leaves, domestic animal manure, small branches, cocoa shells, peanut hulls, waste from fruits, newspaper and many more.

Need of leaf mulcher:

The need of leaf mulcher depends on the condition of the lawn and what machines you already have ask yourself these questions to decide:

• The quantum of the organic waste, decide on the basis of number of bags you are collecting. If there are several numbers of bags you are raking and bagging in one go then leaf mulcher is a thoughtful investment.

• If you have a lawn mower but without mulching blades then you can search for option to upgrade it with some attachable equipment.

• There also a possibility that your lawn mover has shredding blades and if that is the case then you don’t need a leaf mulcher. You can just grind the leaves and spread them on the lawn this way also has benefits.

Categories of Leaf mulcher:

There are different variables like power source, material, size, access and weight to consider:

• Electrically sourced mulcher makes very less noise and are user friendly. The constrain of this type is the length of the extension cord. So, if you have small space to cover than these machine works for you.

• Combination model are one which collect leaves and ground them into mulch with one switch. It is put into a bag that attached to the machine itself. The advantages are they are lightweight and multi-functional. Making it so easy that you can use it with one-hand.
• Gas-powered small models can make mulch of branches up to 1^1/2 inches, which more useful in fall. But they are heavier and non-portable. They are also most of time noisier and create smoke because they are more powerful.
• The “impeller” is a part that does the shredding of the leaves, normally known as blades. There are two types, metallic and plastic. Metallic blades are more durable and is a safer option if you are looking for branch cutter. The models with plastic blades are more affordable. Sometimes leaves can get clogged or stuck so the impeller where everything is grounded should be accessible, to save time and labour.
• Storage is also an important variable to see, there are some compact models but they are less powerful.
• Weight depends on the type of power source, combination models are light and easily movable, while gas models are heavy comparatively.
• Access is another factor that you should consider, some machines are available with wheels making it easier to carry around the yard.

At the end the decision depends on the your and your yard requirements.