Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. The autumn leaves are falling and the days of raking are almost a thing of the past for many gardeners. Mulching and vacuuming mowers are much faster and easier on your back. You should not allow leaves to accumulate over your turf grass, no matter if you want to rake, mow or blow them (raking is of course the most tranquil but do wear gloves or you’ll get blisters (I’m nursing one now). Leaves shade your turf grass from sunlight, you grass is still green and needs to photosynthesize to stay healthy. Also, that layer of leaves is like a mulch—holding in moisture when your grass needs to be dry at night to avoid diseases. Remember that the fungal diseases that can devastate our warm season grasses actually begin in fall; we just don’t see the damage until the next spring when portions of the lawn don’t green up.
Caring for Your Lawn in the Fall
