It’s Almost Fall, Y’all.

With the autumn equinox right around the corner, I need to ensure we address fall lawn care before we all get distracted by pumpkin spice propaganda and political lattes. What a world we are living in, but I digress. We’re just gonna stick to lawns and mindin’ our own business right now, though. This go around, I’m going to focus on leaves. It’s a little early for many leaves, but not too early to make a plan for how you will keep them from piling up on your lawn.

There seems to be a great divide when discussing what to do with leaves. Should you mulch? Should you remove them? Should you leave them there and let the earth decide? (No, please don’t do that.)

Leaves are troublemakers.

Too many leaves on your lawn do not make for a good look to begin with, but did you know they can kill your lawn? They’re lazing around there, blocking sunlight and air circulation. Allowing that to happen is just asking diseases and insects to move into your leaf condo. Damaging fungus and mold love the moist area under leaves. Pests also love this dark, wet environment. Not to sound dramatic, but those leaves must be removed or mulched to prevent calamity and ruin.

Mulching is the way.

So now you know, they’ve got to go. But how? I recommend mulching - most of the time. Mulching has many wonderful benefits for your lawn, back, and wallet (if you hire someone). Mulching leaves solves all the problems previously mentioned. Mulching allows sunlight to get to your grass for photosynthesis, air to circulate, and excess moisture to escape. Mulched leaves break down and provide organic matter as a free natural fertilizer for your lawn. Mulching also helps suppress weeds by blocking sunlight from the seeds and seedlings, preventing successful germination. If all that isn’t enough, you also have the added benefit of water retention and less erosion. When rain falls on your lawn, it isn’t hitting the soil directly, which helps with erosion, and the tiny bits of leaf matter help keep the soil moist.

What about removal?

I only recommend spending the extra time or money on removal if you have a hefty layer of leaves. At a certain point, you simply cannot mulch excess leaves into your lawn. If you have more than 50% of ground coverage in leaves, mulching will not be effective, and you’ll need to remove them to avoid the problems unattended leaves can cause, as mentioned above. If you find yourself drowning in leaf litter, removal will be the most effective remedy to maintain the health of your lawn.

See ya next time.

It’s been a pleasure sharing my lawn tips with you. Give me a call if you need help mulching or removing excess leaves. Royal Lawns works year-round to keep our customers’ lawns in tip-top shape.

Lastly, not to ‘leaf’ ya on a cliff hanger, but I’ll be back in a few months talking about murdering crepe myrtles. Don’t touch ‘em if you aren’t sure. I’ll tell you what to do.