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Unique-Public-8594 t1_ixi1m90 wrote

Why you should leave the leaves:

https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2015/OctNov/Gardening/Leave-the-Leaves

Dude. Spend your time working at a food pantry, not obsessing over leaves.

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tobiasrfunke t1_ixjl1az wrote

You can't just leave them, at least not in Massachusetts. They need to be mulched, or they won't break down. And mulching is still work.

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SnacksCCM t1_ixm01o3 wrote

Precisely this. Your grass would be dead (little to no sunlight/"suffocated") and you'd (likely) have weeds & tree sprouts everywhere if you just left deciduous leaves as they fell. The best thing to do (IMO) is:

(1) Yes, not obsess over them (even if you do a perfect job, it's windy all winter and leftovers or your neighbor's leaves will eventually blow through - make peace with a few leaves out there, the place still looks great.)

(2) Do a decent job mulching most of them, it reduces erosion, feeds the grass, and avoids blocking the sunlight. Oh, and it's usually easier to do than raking/moving/collecting them all.

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SynbiosVyse t1_ixju1s8 wrote

Can't just leave them alone, you need to do a certain level of maintenance.

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ksoops t1_ixlxe34 wrote

Forested lot. If I left them all it would be a disaster

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