HOUSTON — Before you blow those fallen leaves off your porch, listen up. Here’s how you can repurpose those leaves and save on landscaping.
Even though we are counting the days until Christmas, we are still celebrating the fall foliage. However, that also means piles of leaves, and the cleanup that follows is just a pain.
Luckily, experts say fallen leaves have many benefits to our ecosystem, and get this, could actually improve your lawn's health.
While it’s true a deep layer of leaves across your lawn could contribute to less airflow and fungal problems, a gentle scattering of leaves is not likely to cause any turfgrass issues and can bring organic nutrients back to the trees, grass, and plants that surround it.
The best practice is to mow the leaves, just make sure you leave the bag off the mower so the leaves are shredded, and the finer particles can work their way into the soil adding critical organic material, which improves soil health.
Over time, these leaf particles are broken down into nutrients by beneficial microbes and this process will build heat resilience and nice robust root systems.
While the leaves can be an eyesore and your first go-to is to rake, put them in a bag, and set them in front of your house to be disposed of. However, think about how you can repurpose those leaves into free mulch.
One word of warning, if you want to mulch your leaves, don't wait too long to do it. Leaving a thick layer of leaves on top of your lawn for too long can trap moisture and potentially lead to fungal growth and plant rot.