Experts recommend leaving leaves on yard for winter

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - It's a fall-fueled solution that can help your lawn thrive. Experts say foregoing the rake or leaf blower and leaving fallen foliage can actually improve lawns and the critters that call them home.

While some rake up the leaves littering their lawns Deb Heleba mows them into tiny pieces and calls it a day, "That will break down the leaves into like digestible chunks."

In Vermont, it's the law to compost your leaves. Many people rake and bag them up for compost center dropoff. But Heleba, who works with UVM Extension, says people can do even more by doing less.

"Trying to manage your lawn with leaves in mind as a free source of nutrients and organic matter is a really good idea," said Heleba.

She explains that when people leave a layer of leaves on their lawn, they decompose and add essential nutrients back into the soil. They also insulate grass, helping roots grow deeper and allowing for better water absorption and retention.

Natasha Duarte with the Composting Association of Vermont says left leaves also create a vital space for creatures to overwinter, "Even if we get a heavy snow pack, there's this little environment in between where these critters can sustain and have what they need."

If leaves become too thick, a quick mow can break them down and help them decompose faster. If leaving leaves isn't in the cards, they make a great carbon-rich addition to home composts too.

"When you get it out, it's this beautiful, brown, lovely material that you can then use as a fertilizer in your gardens or on your lawn, whatever," said Heleba.

Those who do leave a layer on their lawn, make sure to rake them up once spring temperatures are constantly around 50 degrees.