GRAY, Ga. — The fall season is just around the corner. While it may look different this year as a result of Covid-19, we can still enjoy many people’s favorite season of the year. Friday night lights are back, leaves will began to change soon, and pumpkins, mums, and fall door hangers will soon decorate front porches. As the leaves began to change and add of pop of color to the landscape, they will also began to fall leaving us with the questions of what to do then.
Do not let leaves pile up in the yard. By allowing this, there can be a negative impact of the health of your turfgrass. Significant amounts of leaves can smother turf, block sunlight, limit air circulation, and inhibit proper growth of the grass. The accumulation of the leaves on the surface of the ground can also cause the lawn to hold water causing the soil to be moist which can lead to root rot. Fall is a good season for the grass to recover from the hot dog days of summer. Due to tree cover being less dense, grasses can obtain substantial amounts of sunlight which can keep your yard looking healthy this fall. By allowing leaves to build up, these benefits will go unseen and your turf may begin to look unhealthy.
A good solution for dealing with fallen leaving is to continually mulch them using a lawn mower. For the best results, I recommend installing mulching blades to your mower which will result in the leaves being chipped into finer pieces. By chopping the leaves into finer pieces, the decomposition of the leaves by bacteria in the soil will occur more quickly. The decomposition process may result in some nutrients and organic residues being added to the soil. I recommend mulching the leaves with the deck height of the mower being set at 3 inches.
This height will result in reduced visibility of the leaf litter in the spring while still effectively mulching the leaves in the yard. Three or four passes may have to be made with the mower to effectively mulch all of the leaves depending on how frequently you are mowing. I would recommend mulching the leaves if possible once a week to prevent accumulation of the leaves on the surface of the grass and mulching when the leaves are dry. Leaves that are wet will be more resistant to cutting and result in larger leaf pieces. Mulching leaves as they fall will keep your yard looking nice and also keep your mower tuned up by using it into the fall and winter months.
If you do not want to leave the mulched leaves in your yard for decomposition, another option is to use a bagging attachment for your lawn mower to collect the leaves as they are mulched. The clippings that are collected can be used as living mulch. These clippings can be placed in gardens, flower beds, around trees, etc. for weed control. This method allows for the grass in your yard to stay healthy and get plenty of sunlight while still utilizing the leaves and keeping them out of landfills.
Both of these methods are great ways to keep your yard looking healthy this winter and handling the problem of falling leaves in your yard. For more information on dealing with falling leaves or mulching, call the Jones County Extension Office at 478-986-3958.
—Michael Abney, UGA Cooperative Extension, Jones County