To leave or not to leave?

To Leave, or not to leave, that is the question. 

Hello again. The reason for this post is in a response to some ideas from a blog post about the benefits of leaving your leaves on the ground in the fall. 

The article is posted here.

Leaf Litter

The article basically explains the reasons why people should leave their leaves to naturally decompose instead of raking them up each year. My opinions of this topic are from the vantage point of a professional gardener.  I believe leaving the leaves on the lawn has a few draw backs.
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1) Properties with multiple oak trees would destroy their grass if they left that many leaves on the ground. Oak trees and maple trees for example are not good for this practice where many smaller trees would not be as big of a problem.

2) Mold spores, bacteria and insect eggs could all be inhabiting those leaves allowing more of a chance to come back in force the following season if left on the ground. If you have issues with your trees and plants this may be of concern to you.

If a homeowner would like to be more organic and just let the leaves fall and save on clean up costs here are a few ideas to apply this approach practically .

1) Designate one "natural area" in your yard where you can blow or rake your leaves to. A natural area is just a an area generally untouched by landscaping material for native plants trees ect to grow organically.  This could be under some big maples or oaks, along the side of a property or in a back corner of the lot.

Having an area to blow your leaves to will save your grass, cut down on disposal costs and minimize clean up time. If you have a compost area or a natural area on your property whether you or a landscaping company does your fall clean up you will save both time and money for each clean up.

2) Avoid planting and maintaining a mono-culture of plants or trees. A mono-culture when you plant only one variety of cultivar of a plant.  Try planting a few different things around the property to encourage diversity. The reason this is important when leaving your leaves on the ground is that you will avoid a infestation of mold, bacteria, mites and other insects by controlling the threshold of the pest. If you have lots of trees of many varieties you will have less of a problem compared to a mono-culture where a bug or mold can easily spread around the property from the same species.

3) Consider mulching leaves. You can kill mite eggs and control other diseases by mulching the leaves as well. Mulching leaves allows less space for bugs to lay eggs on and  multiply. Mulching also provides several benefits to your lawn and garden areas by adding nutrients to the soil in the form of organic compost when the leaves brake down.

By using a few of these practices you can cut down on disposal charges on leaf disposal, protect your property from pest infestation, and minimize fall clean up time. Blowing the leaves off the grass onto your own property is much more efficient than paying a company to dispose of them for you. When I do fall clean up jobs the properties with natural areas to blow the leaves save %50 the cost.  Half of the expense from fall clean up is labor to bag or haul the leaves into a trailer and the expense of the recycling company you pay for disposal. I hope these tips can help you save money while enjoying your property at the same time.

Mr. Backyard
Andy Dail
www.mrbackyardllc.com