To rake or not to rake – this is an important question for homeowners who have trees in their yards that shed leaves during the autumn months. This is a question that has many different answers. Consider for yourself some of the arguments we have listed below regarding the chore of raking or not raking fallen leaves. Perhaps these tips will help you decide which answer is best for you and for your own surrounding landscape.
Traditionally, many people spend their autumn and early winter weekends raking, collecting, bagging, and dragging off their fallen leaves for proper disposal. For some, they do this annually in order to provide their lawn with the best possible care because the thought is that the fallen leaves will smother the underlying grasses if the leaves are left there for an extended amount of time.
Other people remove their fallen leaves because they strive for a perfectly clean and crisp appearance on their lawn. Whether you rake leaves off your yard for the health of your grass or for aesthetic reasons, the choice is yours, if you wish to continue to rake, collect, bag, and drag your leaves away.
For some people, the decision to not rake fallen leaves is one that appeals to them the most. Besides avoiding the backbreaking hard work of raking and bagging a lot of leaves, people who decide to not rake leaves usually decide that the effort does not really outweigh the benefit.
Depending on the amount of leaves that a lawn has on its surface, many people either leave the fallen leaves alone as the leaves will decompose throughout the remaining months of the year, or they decide to mulch the leaves into much smaller pieces. When leaves are mulched into small bits, they can easily fall between the blades of grass, and instead of smothering the grass as they might if they created a thick blanket across the surface, the small pieces fall between the grass blades and act as a fertilizer for the soil. This process is a wonderful choice for lawns that are not too heavily burdened with an abundance of leaves.
Still, other people may choose to not rake their fallen leaves because they are not bothered by the scattering of leaves that are created during the cooler fall months.
Besides the obvious decision that property owners must make about whether or not they like the visual appearance of a pristinely raked lawn or not, the main deciding factor is most likely the amount of fallen leaves that a particular lawn possesses. Often, people will decide to mix a little of both practices. This process includes raking a large majority, but not all, of the fallen leaves, and mulching the remaining portion of the leaves that can then help to fertilize the lawn in the upcoming months.
Regardless of what you choose to do – rake or not rake, it is still very important to continue to care for your lawn throughout the Fall months. Contact Mighty Green Lawn Care for fertilization, weed control, tree and shrub care, and other lawn care services!