Leaves?

[poohlovermom]

Our family just recently moved to South Dakota-and our yard happens to have a lot of trees. No matter how many leaves we rake, they just seem to keep falling! Does anyone know if it will kill the grass if I leave some on the ground?

 

[davedmaine]

Our family just recently moved to South Dakota-and our yard happens to have a lot of trees. No matter how many leaves we rake, they just seem to keep falling! Does anyone know if it will kill the grass if I leave some on the ground?

Just get yourself one of those industrial fans from Home Depot and blow them into your neighbor's yard.

 

[poohlovermom]

That's a thought, however I don't think they would appreciate it.

 

[leebee]

The grass under the leaves will turn all white and die, but grass in the northern climates isn't growing at this time of year anyway. My husband says he thinks the leaves protect the grass's roots during the winter. The leaves will still be there in the spring, though, but they'll be nasty; one winter isn't enough time to turn them into mulch, as the temps and oxygen conditions aren't ideal. YOu'll probably end up raking them next spring, but they won't rake up as easily. We usually rake when the leaf-fall is at peak, and then not again until just before the first snowstorms are predicted. It's not perfect, but it keeps most of the leaf litter cleaned up. Besides, we often have windy days in the fall- nature's own leaf-removal system!

 

[Hannathy]

Do you have a mulching mower? We never rake. Our mower is a mulching mower so the ones on the ground in the fall get ground up as long as the grass is still being cut and then they sit there till spring and then get ground up in the spring. We are done cutting as of 2 weeks ago so there are a lot of leaves in the yard. Some will blow away most will stay. Our grass is fine.

I think my dog is trying thought everytime she comes in she brings leaves in on her fur, my kitchen floor has as many leaves as the yard does.

My suggestion get a mulching mower and late in the fall run it over the yard set high one last time.

 

[shortbun]

Do you have a mulching mower? We never rake. Our mower is a mulching mower so the ones on the ground in the fall get ground up as long as the grass is still being cut and then they sit there till spring and then get ground up in the spring. We are done cutting as of 2 weeks ago so there are a lot of leaves in the yard. Some will blow away most will stay. Our grass is fine.

I think my dog is trying thought everytime she comes in she brings leaves in on her fur, my kitchen floor has as many leaves as the yard does.

My suggestion get a mulching mower and late in the fall run it over the yard set high one last time.

Our mower mulches. We find we have to rake hard in the spring or the mulched leaves form this helmet and kill the grass. We just blow them into the compost area and keep turning all winter.

 

[BearcatsFan]

We have tons of leaves. We use our mulching mower and cut them into fine little pieces, then rake those out over the yard.

 

[Pixiedust34]

I agree--mulch with a mower.

The previous owners of our house did not rake, and we had a yard full of dead grass because of it.

 

[MIGrandma]

We just mulch them up with the mower when we cut the grass the last few times in the fall. Never have any trouble with the grass growing back in the spring and it mulches them up fine enough that they're decomposed by spring too.

 

[abdmom]

I lived in MN. If I didn't mulch, we'd end up with a fungus that killed the grass.

 

[ilovemk76]

Our family just recently moved to South Dakota-and our yard happens to have a lot of trees. No matter how many leaves we rake, they just seem to keep falling! Does anyone know if it will kill the grass if I leave some on the ground?

Yes they will kill the grass. They will hold moisture all winter long.

Do you have a lawn tractor? If so, buy the lawn vac with mulcher and you can vacuum them up. This is what we do.

 

[HelenePA]

I leave my leaves on the grass all winter and my grass is never dead, I mulch them in the early spring and everything is fine with my grass... its too hard to mulch them when they are wet.

 

[pigletgirl]

I raked a bunch of leaves today. We also mulch them, however if we can't see the grass, we rake enough to where the mower can take care of the rest.

 

[mnrose]

Do you have a mulching mower? We never rake. Our mower is a mulching mower so the ones on the ground in the fall get ground up as long as the grass is still being cut and then they sit there till spring and then get ground up in the spring. We are done cutting as of 2 weeks ago so there are a lot of leaves in the yard. Some will blow away most will stay. Our grass is fine.

I think my dog is trying thought everytime she comes in she brings leaves in on her fur, my kitchen floor has as many leaves as the yard does.

My suggestion get a mulching mower and late in the fall run it over the yard set high one last time.

This. We never rake. DH "mows" the leaves and they get chopped up. They "feed" the lawn. We have one of the greenest, nicest lawns in the neighborhood too.

 

[muffyn]

after my hubby spent 2 days raking leaves,(again.....), I thought was ridiculous....
I searched online. according to scotts website you SHOULD mulch the leaves back into your grass. you can safely mulch 18 inches of leaves & your lawn will look a lot better in the spring!

 

[LuLuO]

The only time we rake leaves is when the kids want a pile of them to play and jump in. The rest of the time, we mulch with the mower.

 

[parrothead365]

I'm a "burn'em wher they lay" type of guy