A robot lawn mower can be a great tool for anyone who doesn’t have the time to keep their yard looking nice. You simply set it up, plan the schedule, and you now have a hands-free and automatic lawn mower.
This might be great in the Spring and Summer months, but what happens come Fall when that pretty autumn foliage starts to litter your front yard? Will your autonomous lawn mower be able to handle those piles of leaves?
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Can A Robot Mower Mulch Leaves?
The short answer to this question is: YES, a robot lawn mower is capable of mulching leaves in yard.
However, just like with any mower, you cannot expect your robotic mower to drive over huge piles of leaves and turn them into shreds.
Editor’s note: I once tried to mow a huge pile of leaves on my ride-on SCAG and the dry leaves actually caught fire on the engine! The whole mower was engulfed in flames and I had to use a fire extinguisher on it. Pretty scary! Pretty dumb! Luckily, aside from some burnt wires, there wasn’t any damage.
Ok, back to your robot mower and how it will handle mulching leaves. You have to remember that this device is made for routine cuts of your lawn. It is not made for mulching, nor is it really equipped for it.
You can’t raise the blade up 5″ like you would on your riding mower. You also can’t go back and forth over certain areas where leaves are piled up. The AI of the robot isn’t that smart that it knows it should give that row of leaves another pass.
What Is The Cutting Height On Robot Mowers?
The cutting height on your robot lawn mower will vary based on the brand you purchase. Most robotic mowers have a cutting minimum of around 2″ and a max of around 3.5″
Again, you can see why a robot isn’t going to be able to mulch large piles of leaves in your yard. They simply do not have the clearance to handle serious leaf mulching.
Your robotic lawn mower is capable of mowing small amounts of leaves.
- Your robot mower is not designed to mulch the leaves in your yard.
- It will struggle with even small piles of leaves.
- It will mostly just push piles of leaves around.
- It could get clogged up or even stuck on large amounts of leaves.
Keep in mind that these are expensive pieces of equipment. So you should do whatever you can to prolong the longevity of them. Using them to mow up leaves could eventually cause problems with their wheels, gears or other parts.
Are Mulched Leaves Good For Lawns?
Mulching your leaves and leaving them on your lawn can, in fact, be beneficially to your grass.
Earthworms and other little critters eat up and help decompose the leaf fragments, which are then left as beneficial organic matter.
A lot of people will even put mulched leaves in their garden beds to help prepare for next year’s plants. It is very good for the soil.
Mulching your leaves each Fall can lead to better, more healthy grass come Spring time.
Obviously, you need to spread the mulched leaves out if they are too thick in certain areas. You can’t mulch up your 2 acre backyard and then rake what is left into a big pile. That will surely kill the grass under said pile of leaves.
When NOT To Mulch
Do NOT let your leaves pile up on your lawn all Fall and into Winter. Once the snow starts falling you will never got those leaves up.
Once Spring comes you are going to be looking at a lot of dead, or at least very unhealthy grass in your yard.
Final Thoughts On Using A Robot Mower To Mulch Leaves
If you have a large yard with several trees, which are going to drop a good amount of trees, then you should not rely on your robot to mow your leaves. Robotic lawn mowers simply are not designed to mulch leaves. That is why I have 3 kids – manual labor.
If your yard is small and you don’t see a whole lot of leaves on your lawn, then your average robot mower should be able to handle that just fine.
Thank you for reading. If you find the information here helpful, please leave a comment or give it a share. Appreciate it!
