Are Leaves On Lawn Over Winter A Good Or Bad Thing?
You get leaves on your lawn over winter and you don’t know whether they are good bad or indifferent and whether you should remove them or leave them as much.
In this article, I will look into whether you should keep leaves on your beautiful lawn over winter or remove them and tell you the right way to do it as if you get it wrong it can do severe damage to the health of your lawn and you don’t want to do that.
Read on and find out the benefits and disadvantages of having leaves on your lawn over winter and what your options are for dealing with them.
Leaves on lawn over winter, should you rake them up or leave them? It makes sense to use the leaves on your lawn as a layer of mulch but you do have to use a mulching mower to chop them up, otherwise, they will turn into a thick covering that is detrimental to lawn health.
What Happens To Leaves On Lawn Over Winter?
If you don’t rake the leaves off your lawn over winter it can lead to a number of problems and an unhealthy lawn.
If you leave a thick layer of leaves over your lawn all winter it can have the effect of smothering the grass and as grass needs to breathe this can be bad news.
A thick layer of leaves can lead to diseases such as snow mold or brown patch and if these diseases start to infect your lawn it can actually become a long-term problem you will have to battle so it is easier to rake the leaves and don’t give diseases a chance to get into your lawn.
When you have a thick layer of leaves over your lawn all winter it can stop the air, the water, and the healthy nutrients your lawn needs to stay healthy from getting down to the grass especially down to the root area where it is needed most.
When you rake your lawn to remove the leaves you don’t have to get rid of every single one, just try and make sure there isn’t a thick covering all over your lawn.
Is There A Benefit Of Leaves On Lawn?
Some people say it is a benefit of leaving your leaves on the lawn and this is true but you do have to do it correctly, you certainly don’t want to leave a thick layer of leaves across your lawn.
The tactic you have to use is to break-up the leaves into smaller pieces this is called mulching, to break up the leaves into smaller pieces, you can run a mulching lawn mower over them or even just a standard lawnmower as it will still do the job of breaking up the leaves into smaller pieces.
By breaking up the leaves into smaller pieces this means you can leave them on your lawn and they won’t completely block all the sunlight that your grass needs to grow.
When you break up the leaves and use them as mulch this means as they start to decompose all the nutrients will be absorbed back into your lawn, some people remove the leaves then they have to use fertilizer to add nutrients back into the soil so why not just use the leaves as mulch which acts as a natural fertilizer for grass.
Click here for a list of mulching pros and cons.
How To Get Rid Of Leaves On Lawn Over Winter
If you are planning on getting rid of the leaves on your lawn over winter, it is a good idea to do it when it leaves are dry and not soaking wet.
The most simple way to get rid of ways of your lawn is to use a rake, one of the fan-shaped rakes is the best idea.
Depending on the size of your lawn, using a rake to get rid of leaves could be a very tiring experience.
The other option is to use a blower and this will enable you to blow all the leaves either off your lawn or into a position so you can gather them up.
Of course, you could also use a mulching lawnmower and run it over your lawn a few times and all the leaves will be cut into tiny pieces and you can just leave the leaves on your lawn.
If you decide to remove the leaves from your lawn you could either move them all off the grass area and put them over a flower bed as mulch alternatively you could put them in your compost bin and spread them over an area to fertilize it at a later date.
Raking Leaves In Spring
Even if you do rake the leaves in your yard during the fall and into winter you can guarantee there will still be lots of leaves and debris across your lawn by the time spring arrives.
When Spring arrives it is your first opportunity to get back out to making your lawn look beautiful again and giving it its first rake of the year does have a massive benefit. When you rake your lawn in spring you should use a spring tine rake as that is the type of rake that works best for gathering up leaves and thatch.
The first benefit of raking your lawn in spring is that you will gather up any leaves or grass that hasn’t survived the winter.
The second benefit is that you can remove a layer of thatch and this will get your lawn prepared for a healthy growing season.
When you do rake your lawn in spring you should dig deep down with the rake in order to get out any thatch and debris that might be hiding deep in the grass.
Some thatch is good for a lawn but if the layer becomes too thick it can stop your lawn from being able to breathe properly and also stop water getting down to the root system so removing some of it in spring is always a good idea.
To find out whether you should mulch or bag grass clippings Click Here.
Should I Rake Leaves Off Flower Beds?
So you know that it can be a good idea to rake leaves off of your lawn or turn them into mulch and use them as a natural fertilizer.
When you do this there are still leaves all over other parts of your yard such as the flower beds, should you now remove the leaves from your flower beds to allow air and light into the soil the same way you do with your lawn?
I always leave the leaves on my flower beds overwinter as I feel they act as a good organic cover that protects my flowerbeds from freezing and frosty conditions. I remove the leaves from my flower beds in spring but I don’t rake them just in case I damage the flowers that are about to start growing again.
You can actually leave the leaves on your flower beds and they will act as a layer of mulch but I prefer the clean look I get by removing them.
Some types of trees have leaves that have more nutrients than others.
You should really check out what sort of trees are dropping the leaves on your yard as some can actually cause damage but most leaves will be of benefit to your soil.
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