Taking care of fallen leaves in your yard

Fall is the best time of the year. Everything is full of color. Your trees and shrubs will turn to gold,  ruby, bronze and plum. Transformation before winter comes is something everyone enjoys. 

But once the leaves start falling from the deciduous trees, the cleaning begins. When there are  leaves on the trees, it may not seem like there are that many leaves on the ground, but once they  fall, leaves can definitely build up in piles. 

You don’t have to rake up every fallen leaf, but you can’t ignore the larger leaves that are starting  to cover your lawn and landscape. Let’s talk about leaf cleaning, composting dead leaves, and how  these leaves can affect your landscape in different ways so you can better understand how to  manage them. 

Are dead leaves harmful to plants or soil? 

When the leaves start to fall, you want to know what to do to keep them going. Let’s start with the  lawn. You may be asking yourself, Are dead leaves good for your lawn? “My answer is no”. 

If tree leaves cover a significant portion of your lawn, they can suffocate your lawn and stunt its  growth come spring. The maximum number of leaves that can accumulate on your lawn is 10 to  20 percent. 

For the rest, you have several options. 

You can rake the leaves off your lawn to remove them, or use a blower to push them into the lawn  pile. If you have a bag attached to your lawn mower, you can compost it and collect dead leaves  and grass clippings. Mulching leaves with a lawn mower can cause them to be cut into much  smaller pieces. And this is actually most beneficial to your lawn. That’s because the nutrients and  organic matter in the dead leaves in these little pieces can break down and benefit your lawn and  soil. 

Benefits of fallen leaves 

Dead leaves may not be good for your lawn when used in large quantities, but they can be positive  for the soil. 

Can I compost dead leaves? great. In fact, dead leaves break down over time, creating compost  that can improve the overall structure of the soil. 

But you can’t let leaves fall and suffocate your plants. You can move some of the leaves to other  areas where they are needed, or create a compost pile for the extra leaves on your property. 

When composting leaves, it is best to mix the leaf waste with other organic materials such as lawn  clippings and food scraps.

Can composted leaves be harmful? 

Composting dead leaves offers many benefits when done correctly, but there are also a few ways  dead leaves can build up if left unmanaged. This can do more harm than good to your home  environment. 

First of all, a thick layer of dead leaves can trap too much moisture when near the plant leaves.  This can make them more susceptible to fungal diseases and rot problems. 

Second, piled up leaves can smother your lawn and lead to snow mold damage in the winter. 

Properly caring for fallen leaves will help you reap all the benefits and prevent negative leaf build up.