What happens if you don’t remove leaves from your yard? Well, you might end up with a healthier lawn, but too many leaves can also harm the grass.
In this article, we’ll cover the good, the bad, and the ugly of leaving leaves on your lawn.
Bottom line: Letting leaves cover 10% to 20% of your lawn is perfectly fine, but any more than that, and you’re asking for trouble. There’s a fine line between letting your lawn go au naturel and accidentally suffocating the grass.
The Good: How Leaves Can Help Your Lawn
Do you need to rake leaves? Yes and no. Too few leaves and you will be missing out on some great benefits. The trick is to find the sweet spot. Allow 10% to 20% leaf coverage on your lawn. It should be a light dusting, not a full-on blanket. This way, you get all the benefits without the downsides.
Fallen leaves offer a range of benefits for your lawn:
- Nutrient boost: Leaves decompose and release essential nutrients into your soil, providing your grass with a natural dose of fertilizer.
- Improved soil structure: Leaves help improve soil structure and water absorbency, making your lawn more resilient.
- Wildlife support: Fallen leaves provide shelter for native pollinators and other insects during the winter.
- Natural mulch: As leaves break down, they create a natural mulch that helps suppress weeds while fertilizing the soil. It’s like a two-for-one deal: fewer weeds and healthier grass.
Pro Tip: You can speed up these benefits by breaking down the leaves with a mulching mower. Simply mow the lawn with a mulching blade, and the leaves will break down into finer pieces. This also saves you from having to rake.
See Related: LawnStarter’s Best Mulching Lawn Mowers
The Bad: How Leaves Smother Grass, Invite Disease, Pests
Too much of a good thing can be not so good. Too many leaves on your lawn can cause several issues:
- Choking grass: Too many leaves can smother your grass, stunting its growth and leading to serious lawn issues.
- Snow mold diseases: Thick layers of leaves can promote snow mold diseases.
- Turf damage from pests: Pests like voles and mice might decide to turn your leaf pile into their winter condo, causing extensive damage in the process.
The Ugly: How Leaves Can Torpedo Home Sales
Leaves all over your lawn makes your yard look unkempt, and that can send a signal that you don’t really care about your home.
General landscape upkeep – mulching, pruning shrubs, mowing, removing leaves – has a 104% return on investment, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) 2023 Remodeling Impact Report.
If you’re selling your home, your front lawn is your potential homebuyer’s first impression. Leaves, twigs, and a generally disheveled lawn can torpedo your home sale prospects.
When To Hire a Leaf Removal Pro
If leaves cover more than 20% of your lawn, it’s time to take action. While raking leaves is a simple but back-breaking DIY task, it can take hours to clear a large lawn, leaving you exhausted.
You don’t have to spend your weekend raking leaves. LawnStarter connects you to the best local leaf removal pros near you. They can swoop in, whisk those leaves away, and leave your lawn looking neat and tidy.
Sit back in your cozy sweater and sip your pumpkin spice latte and let the pros take leaf removal off your to-do list.
Main Image Credit: Colin Temple / Adobe Stock Free / License
