Fall is a magical season, with trees bursting with spectacular colors as they graduate from the greenery and adorn themselves in the most beautiful colors from the warmer side of the spectrum, sporting sunny yellows, glowing orange, fiery red, and every shade of gold, copper, and bronze in-between. The autumn is a gorgeous treat for the eyes in many parts of the world, bringing the leaf-peepers out into the rural areas to enjoy a treat for the eyes, as well as some other fall treats like apple cider and maple candy.
But once this gorgeous golden show is over and the leaf peepers have gone home, many of us are left with the fallout–the literal foliage fallout–which has smothered our formerly beautiful lawns and gardens with piles of leaves that are rapidly losing their golden glory.
So now that it’s time to deal with the fallout before the snow flurries arrive, where do you begin? Is it time to reach for the rake, or are there other ways to deal with drifts of damp leaves that have gone from pretty to pesky?
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Rocking the Raking
Yes, when the trees in your yard are all wearing the crowning glory of fall, it can feel like a blessing. But once those leaves fall to the ground, the beautiful blessing quickly becomes a curse, and it’s time to get out the rake.
Raking leaves is the classic, time-honored traditional way of managing the fall leaves that have covered your yard. If you have children, you know that raking up piles of leaves and letting them enjoy the pleasure of playing in them is (almost) worth the effort. But what are some raking recommendations that can make this tedious process a little easier?
First-rate rakers tell us that it’s best to rake with the wind, and not against it. Before beginning, pay attention to which way the wind is blowing, and rake in that direction so the wind is working with you and not against you. This eliminates the frustration of raking a bunch of leaves into a pile, only to have a gust of wind blow them right back at you.
Even if raking with the wind means you aren’t getting the leaves where you want them, you can address this issue raking into a large tarp and then moving the tarp to the curb for pickup, or to the burn pile, compost heap, or mulching area. This is known as the drag and drop technique, and it’s a clean and easy way to relocate your leaves.
Also, it’s important to make sure you are using the right rake. Larger rakes get more leaves at a time, but be sure to try wielding the rake before you buy one to be sure that it’s a comfortable fit for you. A rake that’s too heavy for you to manage easily will make the job much harder and may end in a sore back.
Make Mulch out of Fall Leaves
Fall leaves are a great natural mulching product. And they’re free! Try raking your leaves toward plant beds or under shrubs, or anywhere you’d add mulch to keep weeds from growing. You can ride a lawnmower over the leaves first to chop them up and then rake or leaf-blow the pieces into your mulching area. Having areas in your yard with leafy mulch covering is beneficial for many types of wildlife such as chipmunks, earthworms, and other beneficial insects that need a leafy habitat to safely make it through the winter.
If your lawn is large and leafy, a mulching mower is probably your best bet for taking advantage of the natural mulch that lands in your yard when leaves tumble from the trees. Mulching mowers typically either side-discharge chopped leaves and grass, or you can attach a bag. You can then dump the bag of free mulch in the areas that you’d like it.
Fall-Leaf Fertilizer
You can also allow leaves to decompose on your lawn to replace depleted nutrients in your soil the same way an expensive lawn fertilizer would do it. But don’t get too excited, this doesn’t mean that you can just stay inside the fire and ignore the fall leaves littering your lawn. First, the leaves have to be chopped into smaller pieces. Allowing full-sized leaves to layer up on your lawn deprives the grass of air and sunlight and will slowly strangle your grass. Instead, run over the leaves with a mulching mower. Even a regular lawn mower will mulch the leaves somewhat, but you may have to repeat several times to get them small enough to decompose easily.
Adding a fall and winter yard fertilizer that’s rich in nitrogen will help the leave pieces to decompose faster, and your summer lawn will be a rich, beautiful green as a result.
Using leaves as lawn fertilizer works well at the beginning or end of leaf season, but expert gardeners warn that if you have lots of leaves in your yard, some should be raked or blown away. Allowing too many leaves to decompose on your grass can disrupt the natural pH of your soil.
Get Blown Away
Using a leaf-blower is one of the most popular ways of getting your grass free of fall leaves. It’s certainly the fastest and easiest way to clear your lawn in a hurry. If you are new to leaf blowers, there are some helpful tips for getting great results from one of the best leaf blowers.
First, wear some protective eyewear. Leaf blowers also blow around a lot of dust and dirt. Hearing protection is also advisable since leaf blowers are loud. Make sure the leaves are dry since wet leaves won’t easily blow away. Once you are ready to blow, make sure you are blowing in the direction of the wind.
You should have a plan in place before you begin to blow your leaves. Are you blowing your leaves into a mulching area or over to a curb for town pick-up? Otherwise, you can blow your leaves onto a tarp for easy transportation.
If you want a super-clear lawn, you may have to follow-up with a little raking to remove the stragglers, but this still leaves leaf blowing as the easiest and fastest way to remove fallen leaves.
Create a Compost
If you’ve never been into composting, fall leaves are the easiest way to try it out. First, gather up your leaves after shredding them with your mower. You can do this raking them into a compost pile, or raking or blowing leaves onto a tarp and then moving them into a compost bin or pile. Then simply top the leaves with any nitrogen-rich material such as a nitrogen-based natural fertilizer, composted food, manure, or even grass clippings.
As the leaves continue to fall and you gather them, layer the compost pile with a layer of leaves, and then the nitrogen-rich material. and keep layering until the leaves are gone. Turn the compost once a month unless it freezes. While turning, check the moisture level of your compost. If it’s too moist and smells rotten, add sawdust, dry leaves, or straw. If it has dry patches, add a little water. Compost is ready when it’s dark, dry, crumbly and has a pleasant, earthy odor.
This process only takes a few months in areas that don’t freeze often but could take a year in places where the compost pile stays frozen for months.
When your compost is ready, this is great stuff to help you grow a fantastic summer garden!
Resources— WikiHow, The Family Handyman, Davey, BioAdvanced