I was anxious to do something in the yard or garden now that the Northwest Ice Age has finally receded, so I followed my own advice and mowed it all. Wasn't complicated and I didn't use a mulching blade, just took the bag off the back.
The mower (Cub Cadet) has a spring-loaded door that snaps shut when the bag is removed, turning it into a mulcher. I went over it 3 or 4 times, starting with the mower height in number 4 slot, then 3, then the "rock finder" height of 2. Hard to believe that all that organic matter is still there, just chopped up real fine, should decay quickly and looks good too, no tedious raking and bagging. It was a little harder around "Boot Hill" (as I call it), because the soil is softer (hence the mower wheels dug in more), the leaves thicker, but I managed to get most of it. I was careful around the three Japanese Forest Grass plants and the crocuses the squirrels planted (on the left of the first pic, by the bench).
