I tried it last year, but I had left the leaves in the bags all winter and they had gone anaerobic and smelled really awful for a few days. If you have holes punched in the bags or if you left them open, you may be ok.

ItÂs amazing how much material can be mulched into a summer lawn. Until recently I had black walnut trees dropping their leaves, sticks, nuts, etc onto the roof of the house and garage. I would rake and sweep the stuff off the roof, rake it into the middle of the back yard and run it over with the mulching mower a couple times. Shrub trimmings, tiny sticks, small piles of dried leaves, all got mulched mowed into the back lawn. All this stuff was only slightly visible for about three days and then disappeared into the lawn. If I had bags of dried leaves, I wouldnÂt hesitate to mulch mow them in. It may not be quite as good as compost, but I would call it a close second.
Bill Hill

I noticed, many years ago, that where I shredded leaves for my compost bins the duff that was left behind created soil conditions that got the grass in that 4 x 4 area to grow greener, thicker, faster than just outside with no more water and certainly with no more "fertilizer". Since that time I have mulch mowed all the leaves from the trees I have back into the turf grass and while for a few days the soil may be brown and the shredded leaves very visisble in a short time there will be lots of worm castings appear and the leaves will start to "disappear" as the earthworms and other soil dwelling critters digest them and make those leaves into plant food, and the following spring the grass in that area will grow greener, thicker, faster then the surrounding are that did not get the leaves mulch mowed. Will this work the same way in the spring? I will find out this year since I have a largeish pile of leaves to use that way that got snowed on before I had the chance to mulch mow them in last fall.

I was thinking about any benefit from the leaves as a mulch in the heat of summer. But after reading your comment kimmsr I realize I may as well do it. The front lawn doesn't get as many leaves as the back near the woods, which is where I do rake the excess. I'm sure adding leaves to the front will help even if not as a short term mulch as I originally envisioned.

As a side note the grass grows strongest in the corner of the front lawn which gets a bigger share of leaves from a very large oak across the street.

It's a great idea just make certain that they are 'mulched' enough that they will not restrict air from getting to your lawn. In other words if they are too big they could suffocated the grass!

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Lawns for America