MINNEAPOLIS — If your yard looks anything like mine does, then you know that lingering underneath the surface of the snow is a reminder of all of the yardwork you never got to this fall, but now the question is, what do I do about it?
Should you attempt to rake the leaves? Or simply let them be?
"I'm a big advocate for leaving the leaves,” Alan Branhagen says.
Branhagen is the Director of Operations at the Minnesota Landscape Abroretum.
He says in this case it’s perfectly acceptable to take the easy way out.
“It’s okay to be lazy,” Branhagen laughs. “You are being more environmentally friendly if you’re being lazy in this case.”
He says the leaves give shelter for beneficial insects and small animals and the nutrients in the leaves will break down and fertilize your lawn.
But if you can, he recommends using a lawnmower or mulcher to shred up the leaves so they break down faster and don’t smother your grass.
“If you look out at your lawn and see maybe 50% of it covered with leaves, I would say it’s fine to leave them over the winter,” Branhagen says.
“If there are thick piles of leaves what I will do is take a rake and skim off the top layers and spread thin them out a little bit.”
On the other hand, Duane Duncanson with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says leaving so many leaves on the ground could lead to water quality issues in lakes, rivers and streams.
"We may see an exacerbation of algae blooms in the spring if we are not able to get all of the leaves off of the landscape this fall,” Duncanson says.
That's why he recommends cleaning up the leaves, especially in areas close to open water and areas near streets and storm drains.
"We'd love to see homeowners getting out there and keeping the leaves cleaned up,” Duncanson says.
So rake or it leave it, it depends on who you ask.
There are pros and cons to both.
The only caveat is the all-powerful mother nature.
If she decides to keep the snow on the ground, then you might not have the option of cleaning up the leaves this fall.