The turf grass students studying under Joe Vargas at Michigan State University in the 1980's mulch mowed 8 inches of leaves into a test plot of turf and found the following spring that plot of grass grew greener, thicker, faster than plots synthetically fertilized. I mulch mowed a fairly large amount of leaves yesterday and when done saw the area was brown but experience tells me that in a few days that will change and the grass will be the only thing I see unless I go down there and look and then I will see a lot of worm castings. Mulch mow as many leaves as your mower allows into your grass.
There is no reason to add any Nitrogen because the leaves will have ample amounts.
There is no real benefit to spraying beer on your lawn except the alcohol reverts back to the sugars it came from and that stimulates the bacteria to rapidly digest what Organic Matter is in the soil and so could help dpelete your soil of that necessary Organic Matter.

Kim,

Probably not where new houses are... Often poor soil. Organic fertilizer would be much better choice...

Lou, since it takes the Soil Food Web to make the nutrients in organic fartilizers available to the plants, and since the Soil Food Web needs organic matter to live and work why would organic "fertilizers" be a better choice then mulch mowing leaves into the soil? I have seen earthworms appear, seemingly from nowhere since none were found in the soil before, once leaves were mulch mowed into the soil. Leaves are free while any "fertilizer" costs money, and leaves are a better choice for the soil then any "fertilizer".

This article from Fine Gardening magazine may be of some help, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Don't Rake your leaves

No lou, organic matter first, then organic fertilizer IMHO.

Thanks for the info guys. I mulch my grass clipping into my lawn all spring and summer long but when fall comes I mow over and bag my leaves (lot of trees and a lot of leaves) My first year in the house I tried to mulch them but it just seemed like it was leaving too on the ground and I feared bare spots come spring. So this really shouldn't be a concern of mine come this fall?

I don't have that many leaves, but if you follow an organic program, there should be enough microbes in your soil that the leaves will disappear pretty quickly. I was sick about the time the last of my leaves fell last fall and didn't get them mowed well in my back yard, but other than that, they all disappeared. A couple of years ago, I got bags of leaves from neighbors who have more leaves, dumped them on my lawn and mowed them in and they all disappeared.

Hmmm, well I'm just going organic as of this spring, previously had been on Chemlawn the past 4 years. I wonder if a sufficient amount of microbes will be built up by the fall? Like I said though I've always mulched my grass clippings so there should be at least allowed some organic material and microbes in the soil.

I do know that the ones that I don't get a chance to mow or rake in the fall always compact on the ground and leave me with bare spots come spring time.

If you've already started on the organic approach, by fall, you should have plenty of microbes in the soil. If the leaves start piling up and don't get digested between mowings, you can rake some of them after mulching a few times. Even if you have to rake this year, by next year, you probably won't have to do so.

I'm going to try this this year, too. We're trying to go as organic as possible, with the exception of the chemical warfare we're waging on the crab grass. A bag or two of composted cow manure sprinkled across the lawn will do wonders to replenish any enzymes that might have been killed off by chemicals. Before chemical fertilizers were invented, this is largely how the English maintained those gorgeous lawns around big castles and estates.

I always have a pile of leaves in the far NE corner of my lawn, as my apple tree refuses to drop a leaf until there is already snow on the ground. When the snow and ice melt in the spring, I move the leaves around to dry out then I mow them in. I have never experienced bare spots, though I can see how it could happen, due to lack of light, oxygen etc. I am happy to report the NE corner of my lawn is as plush, green and healthy as the rest of my lawn.