BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – It’s a fall-driven solution that can help your lawn thrive. Experts say forgoing the rake or leaf blower and leaving fallen leaves can actually improve lawns and the animals that call them home.
While some people rake up the leaves littering their lawns, Deb Heleba chops them into small pieces and calls it a day, “It will break the leaves down into digestible pieces.”
In Vermont, composting your leaves is legal. Many rake and unpack them to leave compost centers. But Heleba, who works with UVM Extension, says people can do even more by doing less.
“Trying to manage your lawn with leaves in mind as a free source of nutrients and organic matter is a really good idea,” Heleba said.
She explains that when people leave a layer of leaves on their lawn, they decompose and add important nutrients back into the soil. They also insulate grass, help roots grow deeper and allow for better water absorption and retention.
Natasha Duarte with the Composting Association of Vermont says that left leaves also create an important space for critters to hibernate, “Even if we get a heavy snowpack, there’s this little environment in between where these critters can sustain and have what they need.”
If leaves get too thick, a quick cut can break them down and help them break down faster. If leaving leaves isn’t in the cards, they make a good carbon-rich addition to home compost too.
“When you get it out, it’s this beautiful, brown, lovely material that you can then use as fertilizer in your gardens or on your lawn, whatever,” Heleba said.
Those who leave a layer on their lawn, be sure to rake them up when spring temperatures consistently hover around 50 degrees.
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