When managing leaves in the fall, landscapers have two choices: They can collect and remove leaves from properties; or mulch them using a commercial lawn mower with mulching blades or a mulching kit.
Returning finely chopped leaves to the lawn, where clippings eventually decompose into a nutrient-rich organic material, is the most sustainable and efficient method of leaf cleanup. To provide a high-quality leaf mulching service, professionals need a mower with mulching capabilities that vacuums up leaves, shreds them and releases the material back to the earth.“Mulching mower blades must be capable of chopping leaves into finer and finer pieces and allowing those pieces to fall way from under the deck without building up inside,” explains Roy “Dusty” Dust, product specialist for Ferris.
There are various types of mulching blades, including multi-edge and styles with curved or straight edges. Dust says the shape and size of mower blades within a mulching system isn’t important: Cutting capability is what matters most.
“A mulching system has to be able to process the product coming in—and when I say process, I mean chew up, cut up, and allow it to vacate the mower deck,” Dust says.