Ditch Your Rake: Experts Say You Should Leave Fallen Leaves Alone, and Here's Why (2024)

If you hate raking your yard during the fall, you might be in luck. The appropriately named "Leave the Leaves" initiative says it’s better to avoid touching the leaves in your yard, instead leaving them to decompose naturally over the winter.

There are a few things you should consider before throwing away your rake, and we're here to shed some light on why you should consider leaving your leaves.

Leaves left on the ground to decompose will fertilize the soil by adding microbes. According to the USDA, they also create an insulating layer during the cold winter and even provide homes to insects and small critters throughout the season.

If you harbor a layer of leaves during the winter, you might find your garden full of gorgeous butterflies—whose larvae live under autumn leaves—come spring.

Leaf layers can even prevent unwanted weeds from growing once the weather warms up. After wintering your yard with leaves, it will be ready to fertilize new growth, revealing healthy grass and the means to create an even healthier garden.

Letting a layer or two of leaves stick around to cover your yard is a great way to help your grass and the local ecosystem. But don't leave them piling up too high: several thick layers of leaves can have the unwanted effect of smothering your grass, which will definitely reveal issues once the grass is uncovered in spring.

Your best bet is to use a rake or leaf blower to move most of the leaves off the grass and over to the dirt. You can pile them up to create leaf mulch, or just allow them to decompose into soil instead of grass (and house insects and critters during the cold seasons).

The simplest way to turn your leaves into mulch is to shred them with a lawnmower. Unfortunately, this can also kill the larvae that attach to the bottom of fallen leaves. To help protect these critters, using non-shredded leaves is best.

All you’ll need to speed up the decomposition process is nitrogen; this can be found in compostable items like veggie waste, manure, or bone meal. You can also mix in local soil with the compost pile.

If you have turf grass and are wondering if you can still leave your leaves behind, the answer is no. The leaves will grow mold during the winter, which will affect the turf. They can even transmit funguses to the turf that definitely won’t be fun to deal with come spring. Transfer leaves over to soil or use them in compost instead.

One more important note is to consider relocating any leaf piles away from your home’s foundation. Though these compost piles attract insects like helpful spiders and butterfly larvae, they may also house a few common pests during the winter (like beetles or the occasional co*ckroach).

Don’t let this deter you from using your leaves this winter—by composting leaves away from your home, you can keep these insects from discovering a new place to stay.