Fallen Leaves Provide More Benefits to Homeowners

Although some homeowners consider dead leaves unsightly, fallen leaves actually benefit future lawn growth.

Ut Extension Agent Wayne Key said fallen leaves provide a number of benefits.

That according to UT Extension Agent Wayne Key.

Key said dead leaves benefit the environment and the soil.

“Of course the biggest advantage of leaving them is they obviously provide for beneficial mulch for the ground and the grasses there,” Key said. “[It] protects any young seedlings from winter injury, from damage, from freeze and so forth this winter. So that is definitely is a benefit as well as retaining soil moisture throughout the winter.”

Key said dead leaves reduce methane gas production and free up landfill space as well.

“A lot of people tend to take their lawn mower this time of year as one final going over their yard and chopping,” Key said. “Breaking those into smaller pieces that can certainly break down quicker, and make for a finer smaller mulch for the yard itself. So chopping them up is a good idea if you don’t like the unsightliness of them.”

Key said letting the leaves decompose on their own is a type of conservationist effort.

Key said homeowners that wish to remove leaves also have options.

“[If] someone wants to rake them up and take them off the lawn, there are some services I believe in Cookeville that are available for some of the city residents as far as vacuuming them and removing them,” Key said. “And they take them to a mulch facility and are composted.”

Cookeville leaf collection services patrol areas every 3 to 4 weeks.