Fall Lawn Care Tip – Watch Those Fallen Leaves

Autumn is not called Fall for no reason and lawns can often suffer if gardeners don’t keep on top of the situation. Fall is when trees drop their leaves and in some gardens all you can see is fallen leaf litter and no lawn at all. The problem with fallen leaves is that they rob the grass of one important requirement at this time of year – sunlight.

It’s important to remove leaf litter as soon as possible and, whatever you do, don’t rake it into a pile and leave it for a couple of days. When you do finally remove it don’t be surprised to see horrible yellow partially decomposed lawn underneath it all. Leaf litter makes a great compost, which can be used to spread across the lawn in spring – but do compost it first, don’t leave it on the ground to compost. Leaf litter can also make a great mulch around plants so use it where it will do the most good – and that’s not on your lawn.

If you have left a pile of leaves for too long and the lawn beneath has turned yellow – you will need to replace that grass completely. In most cases, if it has gone completely yellow, including the crown, then the grass will be dead, or close to it. Use a lawn repair tool to break through the thatch to soil below, liberally sow your preferred grass seed, then water well. Be sure to keep all leaf litter away from that patch until the new grass is well established.

For those gardeners that have a heavy leaf fall, you will need to collect it on a daily basis. A light littering of leaves will not do too much harm, but if you can hardly see the grass below the litter, there is too much – remove it before it damages your lawn.