konsole

So its Halloween 2009, which is generally considered leaf raking season. Our house has been in leaf raking mode for about a week or so, though very little raking has actually been done so far and only about 1/4 of the leaves have fallen. Today there were plans to do a full leaf cleanup but when the wind starting blowing heavily with gusts upwards of probably 40+mph the decision was made that its probably best to wait till atleast tomorrow. Sitting here at my computer and watching the leaves blow around outside got me thinking and doing some research about lawn care practices in general. Here I've listed all the major lawn care activities that I can think of...

-grass cutting
-leaf raking
-seeding
-fertilizing
-watering
-aerating
-putting down lime or other substance to alter the soils ph level

I think most people will agree that you don't need to spend alot of time doing these to maintain a "nice looking" lawn. To what extent do we need to do any of these things though? Are these practices all for simply making the grass look nice, and whos to say that a lawn filled with wild grass and other various small plants doesnt look nice?

From some quick research around the web it seems that mulching up leaves and grass is better for the grass then hauling the them away. All my life and all the people I see caring for their lawn carry these things away seemingly carrying nutrients away that the grass could use, and then forcing them then to fertilize their lawn. We cut our grass on a regular basis throughout the year but always carry the clippings away and also do a complete raking maybe twice each fall but also carry the leaves away. We rarely do the rest of the above items maybe once or twice a year at most.

AND NOW FOR THE QUESTION...
So what is everyone elses take on these practices, mainly the two most common ones mowing and raking? How do you usually do them, if you do them, and have you actually stopped to think and do some research about why you do them?

Here are a couple links that I was reading up on, both "professional" opinions and common joe opinions...
http://montgomerycountymd.gov/conten...tumnleaves.pdf
http://www.scotts.com/smg/learn/info...ailId=12300004
http://gardeningafterfive.wordpress....fallen-leaves/
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/st...288019&ac=Home
http://blog.su-spectator.com/2009/01...intless-tasks/

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