Before the onset of winter, are you wondering whether you should leave autumn leaves on the lawn? Find out here how you can sustainably convert the leaf mass into fertilizer, mulch or compost!
Instead of simply treating fall leaves on the lawn as organic waste, there are alternative ways to use them in the garden. The idea behind it is primarily to improve the garden soil with the nutrients from the decayed autumn leaves. This is similar to simply leaving grass clippings on the lawn after mowing to use as mulch. But is that always a good idea and how does leaving autumn leaves on the lawn affect the health of the grass? Below are some tips for reusing fall leaves to help you improve garden and lawn care.
Can fallen autumn leaves be harmful to the lawn?
There is conflicting information about whether the mass of leaves left lying around is good or bad for lawns. The concerns about this are mainly related to the fact that a dense layer of leaves can occur during heavy rainsFlooding of the garden soilcould lead. In general, what are the possible negative influences of such an approach:
- One of the main disadvantages is that autumn leaves simply left on the ground deprive the grass of vital sunlight and air.
- In addition, piled up leaves create the perfect environment for moles and worms, which can cause damage to the lawn.
- Furthermore, the thick layer of leaves could lead to suffocation of the grass and the development of lawn diseases and mold growth.
To reduce such risks, you should act depending on the situation in your garden. For example, if you have to deal with a lot of weeds in your lawn, it would be better to leave the leaves on top as a protective layer. To do this, you should first be able to identify whether your lawn is suffering. Before winter, try to shred the leaves using a lawn mower with a mulching function or special equipment for leaf mulching. Failure to do this will result in a thick mass of leaves not fully rotting and compromising the health of your lawn in the spring.
What methods to use to remove fallen leaves?
If the leaf layer on your lawn is complicating the situation, there are two ways to get rid of it. You can either use a leaf blower or a rake to manually remove the autumn leaves. Your choice depends on how much effort you want to put into it and how your neighbors would react to the noise of a leaf blower. Furthermore, this could be a tedious task if you have a lot of deciduous trees in the garden area. Therefore, depending on the situation, decide on the best possible option by proceeding as follows:
- First use the rake or leaf blower to collect the fall leaves into a pile and then remove them with a wheelbarrow.
- If your lawn lacks nutrients, you can leave a small amount of autumn leaves on the lawn. Simply run over it with a suitable lawnmower to mulch it. This way you ensure that the leaves decompose faster and supply your lawn with nutrients evenly.
- An equally sustainable and environmentally friendly option is to distribute autumn leaves with a wheelbarrow in shady garden areas without lawn. These can be the garden areas under trees, where the foliage will not be an obstacle to nutrient absorption. This way you can, for examplePlant tree slicesand spruce up your garden. But what else can you do with the autumn leaves on the lawn? Here are some other options you can consider.
Making compost from autumn leaves on the lawn for the garden
As already written, you can reuse leaf mass for various gardening purposes, such as composting. Leaves contain carbon and are rich in phosphorus, zinc, potassium, calcium, nitrogen and other elements important to plants. Therefore, simply add layers of leaves to your compost pile to mix them with the remaining organic waste. When doing fall gardening such as weeding and mowing the lawn, you can turn plant residue into valuable organic compost. Leaving everything to rest over the winter creates nutrient-rich biomass that can help improve the soil in the garden beds in the spring.
Use valuable leaf mold as fertilizer
When you walk in the forest, you probably notice the earthy-smelling layer that lies beneath the leaves. This is about leaf mold that you can use to provide nutrients to garden plants. Although this takes more time, it would be possible to make natural fertilizer from the leaf mold in your own garden. To do this, you simply have to collect the autumn leaves on the lawn into a pile and water them with water. Then wait until it starts to mold, chop up the leaves and use them as a supplement when fertilizing your flower or vegetable beds.
Make material for mulching with the autumn leaves on the lawn
You can of course also use leaf litter as an ingredient in your mulch to improve plants and soil. This is another free and environmentally friendly way to recycle organic waste. To do this, you have to distribute the autumn leaves either whole or chopped around the plants. However, after being crushed, they rot more quickly and turn into humus, which can enrich the garden soil over time if there is a lack of nutrients. To do this, simply apply a 10 to 12 cm thick layer of shredded leaves to your garden beds, avoiding direct contact of the mulch with trunks and stems.
Final thoughts
Although fall leaves on the lawn can pose a health risk, you don't necessarily have to remove all of the leaves. It is better to invest in a so-called mulching mower to supply your lawn with soil nutrients and naturally suppress weeds. In the autumn season and before the onset of winter, it is enough to carry out this gardening work once a week until autumn leaves stop falling. If you have an older lawn mower, you can also inexpensively equip it with a special mulching blade. Simply don't allow a dense amount of leaf litter to build up on your lawn to minimize the potential risks.
Also read:Use leaves and green waste in the garden practically and ecologically
