Should you rake your leaves or let them be? A Pittsburgh-area arborist weighs in

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- As cooler fall weather settles in, it won't be long before the leaves start changing and falling into yards. So should you rake them up or leave them?

Arch Autenreith, who owns Northwood Tree Care in McCandless, says this fall, don't feel bad about leaving raking off your chore list.

"Ecologically and for the environment and for the trees themselves, the answer is to leave the leaves," Autenreith said.

Autenreith says when leaves are left on the ground long enough, they make your trees stronger and healthier.

"With the nutrients that leaves do get to trees, it's going to save you, because now you're not going to have to fertilize your trees because they are getting this natural fertilization process that they have evolved with for millions of years," Autenreith said.

But if you do have diseased trees, Autenreith says the leaves could cause more harm than good. That's when you'd reach out to an arborist.

"As far as any kind of mold, so leaf mold compost is something sought after as it benefits. As far as fungi that is able to negatively impacts things, relatively minimal, there are foliar fungi, foliar as in foliage, that can negatively impact trees left at the base."

If you do decide to rake up your leaves, think about repurposing them as mulch.

"At my house, I'm going to be cleaning my leaves and I put them into our mulch beds and they feed my trees and make my trees and plants happy," Autenreith said.

And if you do have to get rid of your leaves, try to be environmentally friendly.

"Something bio-degradable, right? Keeping plastic out of it, something compostable, that is going to be ideal," Autenreith said.