Ah, Autumn, the time when we look forward to enjoying the cool weather, the warm apple cider, and crisp walks underneath the beautiful color-changing foliage

This year, you can enjoy the season a little more by cutting out the task of raking up all the leaves. Keeping the leaves around will actually help your lawn look better in the Spring!

Here are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to lawn care in the fall.

Do: Mow Over the Leaves

It sounds a little odd to tell someone to mow the leaves on their lawn but there is some science behind it. This shreds them into finer particles that work their way down into the soil, adding critical organic material which improves soil health, something we’re a big fan of over here at ELM Dirt. Over time, these leaf particles get broken down into nutrients by beneficial microbes.

Do: Create a Compost

The best compost piles usually have an even distribution of green and brown matter. Green matter includes items like old food scraps, and brown matter is made of dry leaves and branches. The fallen leaves in your yard have a balanced ratio between carbon and nitrogen, which can boost the health of the compost pile.

Do: Use as Mulch

Dead leaves from your yard make a great mulch to place around trees, shrubs, and perennial flowers. Make sure not to mulch too many leaves at once as this can cause a too-heavy layer of thatch.

Using leaf mulch around your plants can also naturally support wildlife. Many bugs find refuge in the leaves packed into the ground.

Don't: Bag Them

Avoid bagging up dead leaves during the fall at any cost. Once the organic matter and nutrients contained in landscape debris are bagged and set on the curb, those elements can never be recovered. We work hard at ELM Dirt to produce microbes that make the soil healthy, but simply not bagging your leaves could help with this process. This process also sends the leaves to the landfill, which is essentially throwing away lawn care gold.