So, today, as I gaze out at the deep carpet of maple leaves on my backyard lawn, I am turning to some experts to help me decide if my Saturday will be spent bent over and blistered.
Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association says many people rake because they believe a heavy covering of leaves could kill their lawn in the fall if it is still growing. But he said most lawns are going dormant in the fall anyway as temperatures drop and daylight fades, so that is not a big issue. He said he many leaves also tend to decompose by the spring.
Still, to avoid a too-heavy, wet coat of leaves he doesn’t rake: He mows. At the very time the leaves are super crunchy he runs the mower until they become about the size of a quarter. That way, Butterfield says, the leaves can stay on the ground and decompose more quickly to allow nutrients to seep into the soil.
Mother Nature put the leaves there.
And maybe I’ll just wait until she takes them away.
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