Proper Leaf Cleanup

Trees are beautiful because of their leaves, but it is inevitable that leaves fall. Historically, homeowners have raked up the leaves, bagged them and thrown them out with the garbage. Now, that is no longer possible.

We need to remember that eons ago, no one raked leaves. Before people stepped in. leaves fell to the forest floor where they mixed with the twigs and were stirred up by small animals. They provided natural mulch in the winter and then broke down, enriching the soil and fertilizing the trees the rest of the year. We need to take a cue from nature and use leaves in our yards as much as possible.

Different parts of your landscape have different needs. You can use leaves all over your yard, but there are some inappropriate places to put them as well.

If you are trying to grow grass on your lawn, allowing the leaves to remain where they fall is not practical. The weight of the wet leaves can suffocate grass and moisture will build up under the leaves and cause a host of fungal diseases. If you have a mulching lawn mower, use it to cut the grass and chop the leaves at the same time. But, if you end up with more than one-fourth to three-eights inch on your lawn, it's time to go to Plan B.

Put the bagger on your lawn mower and collect the chopped leaves and grass clippings. Then, place them around your shrubs for winterizing mulch. In the past, I didn't like to recommend using leaves as mulch because they tended to compress and mat down, but when they're chopped, they tend to loft up slightly. This allows air circulation and prevents them from compacting as quickly into an imperious layer that limits water and air from reaching plant roots. Chopped leaves will also biodegrade more rapidly.

If you mulch your shrubs and still have leaves left, put a four inch layer over your garden and spade it under. This will provide nutrients for next growing season. You can do the same in flowerbeds.

For areas of ground cover, don't try to remove all leaves. Allowing some to work down into the soil will add nutrients to the soil in these beds as well. Now, don't allow the entire tree to shed all its leaves on one bed of ground cover. The plants may suffocate and dies. For these areas, I like to use an electric or gas powered vacuum-type leaf remover and take most of the leaves from the bed without having to continually stomp through it or damage plants with a rake.

If you still have some leaves left, add them to your compost pile. Don't forget to turn it. If you have children, you might want to leave one big pile of leaves in the yard until it really gets cold. Leaf piles, as you may remember, are great for jumping in, throwing around and just generally having a lot of fun with.