Do You Really Need to Remove Leaves from Your Lawn?

Every autumn, many homeowners are faced with the task of removing leaves that have fallen from nearby trees and collected on their lawns. It can be a tedious chore, so you may be wondering, what happens if you leave leaves on the grass? Read on to find out. 

What Happens If You Leave Leaves on Grass?

Leaves can be beneficial or harmful to your lawn, depending on the amount of leaves covering the grass.  

Full Leaf Coverage

A thick, matted layer of leaves can retain too much moisture and prevent sunlight and nutrients from reaching your grass. Not only will this affect the overall health of your lawn, it can also inhibit growth. Excessive leaves left on your lawn can also lead to problems like snow mold disease, a fungal disease that kills grass. 

Partial Leaf Coverage

A lawn with partial leaf coverage can gain a lot of benefits from the nutrients in the leaves. These nutrients will soak into the soil all winter long as the leaves naturally break down, leaving homeowners with healthy, fertile soil and a thriving lawn. In addition, leaf litter serves as a winter habitat for many beneficial insects, including bumble bees and butterflies.

Maximize Leaf Benefits By Mulching

To get the most benefits from fallen leaves, try mulching leaves with a lawn mower. Mulched leaves enhance your lawn with nutrients like nitrogen without covering too much of the lawn’s surface. They may also help control weed growth. You can mulch leaves with your regular lawn mower or add a mulching attachment to your mower for more efficiency. 

How to Mulch Leaves With a Lawn Mower

• Remove the grass bag from your mower.

• Mow over your lawn and leaves.

• Continue mowing until leaves are about the size of your thumbnail and half an inch of grass is visible above the leaves. 

Once the leaves are cut into small pieces by your lawn mower, scatter them throughout the grass, in flower beds, and around trees to maximize the benefits.

Note: If you’re concerned about accidentally mowing pollinators like bumble bees that may be sheltering in the leaves, mulch as early as possible in the season, before temperatures drop. As an alternative, you can rake the leaves into several discrete piles around your property and wait to mulch them until the pollinators emerge in the spring. 

DIY vs. Professional Leaf Removal

With the pressure off to remove every last leaf from the lawn, many homeowners are able to do their own leaf mulching and removal. It’s usually a relatively low-cost task, since most of the tools needed are ones people tend to already have on hand, such as a lawn mower or a rake. 

However, if you have a big lawn or a large volume of leaves on your grass, you may prefer to hire a leaf removal pro near you to get the job done. The average cost of leaf removal services ranges from $191 to $557.