Experts recommend leaving leaves in the yard over the winter

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Here’s a fall solution to help your lawn thrive. Experts say skipping the rake or blower and leaving fallen leaves behind can actually improve lawns and the animals that call them home.

While some are raking up the leaves littering their lawns, Deb Heleba mows them into small pieces and finishes, “This will break the leaves down into easily digestible pieces.”

In Vermont, the law allows you to compost leaves. Many people rake and bag them to send to a compost center. But Heleba, who works with UVM Extension, says people can do even more by doing less.

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

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 the grass, helping roots grow deeper and allowing for better water absorption and retention.

Natasha Duarte of the Vermont Composting Association says leaving leaves also creates a vital space for creatures to overwinter: “Even if we get heavy snow cover, there’s a little environment in between where these creatures can survive and get what they need.”

If leaves become too thick, rapid mowing can break them down and speed up decomposition. If leaving the leaves is not an option, they also make an excellent carbon-rich addition to homemade compost.

“When you take it out, it’s a nice, brown, lovely stuff that you can then use as fertilizer in your garden or lawn, wherever,” Heleba said.

For those who do leave a layer on their lawn, be sure to rake it as soon as spring temperatures are consistently around 50 degrees.