Mike Hogan
| Special to The Columbus DIspatch
To rake or not to rake is a question raised every autumn when leaves begin to fall and this season is no different. Mike Hogan, Ohio State University Extension educator for Agriculture and Natural Resources, weighed in.
Question: One of my neighbors has suggested that in our neighborhood we should leave the fallen leaves on the ground over winter because they will decay and fertilize the lawn and also provide cover for insects and wildlife over winter. Will doing this harm the lawn?
Answer: Some leaves left on certain portions of the lawn will be useful as a location for beneficial insects and small wildlife to overwinter. This works best when you have a small number of smaller trees which do not shed enough leaves to cover the entire lawn.
The problem is that thick mats of fallen leaves can smother cool-season grasses which continue to grow through fall, and sometimes through winter depending upon the weather.
A thick covering of leaves can also cause snow mold, a fungal disease that will create patches of dead, matted down grass, typically appearing as gray or white circular areas after snow melt.
Instead of leaving a mat of fallen leaves on the lawn, it is best to run the lawnmower over the leaves several times so that the leaves are reduced to small particles which will settle down into the stand of grass, almost like a mulch between the blades of grass. As these leaf particles decay, they will add a small amount of nutrients to the soil, and provide a good source of organic matter.
If you would like to also provide some winter cover for beneficial insects, you can pile fallen leaves on flower and shrub beds or on the vegetable garden for winter and remove or till these leaves into the garden soil in spring after insects emerge. Or you can allow fallen leaves to remain on a small portion of the lawn, perhaps in a far corner of the yard, sacrificing a small area of turf which may be killed over winter.
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