Leaving the leaves: A pretty sight, but detrimental to your lawn
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - If enjoying the colors of the changing leaves is the bright spot for your fall having to deal with them in your yard is the dark side.
The kids and the pets might like playing in them but the blanket of autumn is something your grass does not enjoy.
It turns out the rain we've been getting recently has put some urgency into the need to get the leaves off of your yard.
As the days get shorter and cooler our trees stop their food production process as the chlorophyll breaks down and the green of summer disappears, revealing an artist's palette of fall wonder which drifts down and blankets the grass.
"Getting those things up and getting them off of there is vitally important," said Jeff Fowler, a turf expert at Penn State Extension. "You know, they can lay there when they're dry for a long time but obviously once they're wet and soggy, they're compacted and not allowing that good air."
Which means they're basically a plastic tarp in your yard.
"We have to get those leaves off of there so that they don't suffocate the poor little grass plants that are there," Fowler said. "Typically, those leaves are laying underneath the trees where they don't, the grass isn't necessarily the strongest anyway."
So, getting those leaves up is almost like giving your grass CPR.
"I personally would rather bag them up and compost them and reuse them that way as opposed to mulching them on the yard," Fowler explained.
He said the leaves have high concentrations of tannic acids and nitrogen that can actually chemically burn the grass, so even though using the mulching mower is easier than raking, make sure you catch the leaves rather than letting much lay and choke off the grass.
With all that in mind, there are things you can do to your yard and garden now that will pay off in the spring.
This weekend, the leaf blower chorus will be in full voice and while dealing with the leaves is good for your grass, it's not the only thing to consider this time of the year.
While the first priority is the leaves, Fowler said this is the prime time for action if you want a nice yard in the spring.
We perhaps take for granted the incredible array of colors nature provides us each fall but what is beautiful up here, becomes a problem when it falls and blankets the blades of grass.
"Just a good winterizer, it helps the plant, also fight off disease coming out in the spring and avoids snow mold and that kind of stuff," he said.
Fowler also said you should consider aerating because it makes "a perfect bed for seeds to grow."
That's when you can put down grass seed - don't wait for spring.
Also, clean out the garden.
"Any of the plant debris from this year's plants, we should get those removed, get them out of the soil," Fowler said.
Unlike the grass, don't bother fertilizing an empty garden, just wait to do that in the spring as you get ready to plant.