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Proper groundskeeping typically involves the activity related to tending a landscape—residential or commercial—for either aesthetic or practical purposes. It’s estimated that nearly one million workers are employed in the landscaping industry, which includes nearly 300,000 workers who do groundskeeping services. A few of the tasks that one would expect from those offering groundskeeping services in Atlanta, or anywhere for that matter, are mowing lawns, trimming bushes and trees, removing weeds and leaves, and planting flowers. One of those tasks—the removal of leaves—is actually quite a controversial topic. Should leaves be removed or shouldn’t they? Fact and Myth First, there are the facts about not removing leaves from your lawn. If you don’t remove them and simply leave them where they fall, they will block both air and sunlight from penetrating the grass. When it rains or eventually snows, the problem will be exacerbated by the fact that the leaves will then turn into wet, soggy mats. This lack of air and light will ultimately cause turf disease and possibly even suffocate and kill the grass. Given that scenario, one would be led to believe that you should bag the leaves and not the rake so that the lawn not only looks neater but also so that the leaves don’t kill the grass. That conclusion would be wrong and here’s why. The practice of bagging and sending your leaves off to a landfill actually removes essential nutrients from your lawn and, as a consequence, requires homeowners to purchase fertilizer to supplement the lost nutrients. If you have an inordinate amount of leaves that fall on your lawn in waves, you should rake and remove the leaves until you know that the last wave has arrived and is ready to be mulched. If you leave a blanket of un-mulched leaves on the ground all winter under the snow, even over a mulched bed of leaves, then you risk the growth of snow mold, which is a fungal disease that can attack and kill your grass. Compost and Mulch Of course, you can always rake up your leaves and compost them, especially if you tend to have a series of leaves falling on your lawn over time. However, you can’t just bag them up and expect that they will compost themselves! The process of composting requires the periodic turning of the leaves in addition to having the right amount of moisture. The resulting compost, if done properly, will provide a good fertilizer for spring, and will keep those perfectly good leaves out of your local landfill where they can create harmful gases. So whether you compost or mulch or do both, you will be doing a great deal of good for both your lawn and your environment. When possible, however, a layer of mulched leaves should be left on the lawn throughout the winter months. These shredded leaves will not only control weeds but also provide the soil with much-needed nutrients over the winter months. Therefore, rather than rake the last dropping of leaves, you should mow them with a mulching mower, which is a lawnmower that has a blade that is specifically designed to chop up leaves into tiny fragments that look like confetti. The decomposition of these shredded leaves, which will simply filter through the lawn and disappear, acts as a natural fertilizer as well as an agent to control weeds. If you happen to use a groundskeeping service in Atlanta, simply ask them to use a mulching mower and not bag the leaves.
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