November in Bucks County, Montgomery County and Mercer County means one thing: leaves, and lots of them. What you do with them now has a real effect on how your lawn looks in April.

Why leaves left on the lawn cause problems

A thick layer of wet leaves blocks sunlight and traps moisture against the grass. Over the winter, that smothers the turf and creates the perfect conditions for snow mold, a disease that shows up as gray or pink matted patches in spring.

Option 1: Mulch them with your mower

If the layer is light, mulching is the easiest and best option. Run the mower over the leaves (with the bag off) until they are chopped into dime-sized pieces. Those pieces fall between the grass blades, break down over the winter and return nutrients to the soil.

Rule of thumb: after mowing, you should be able to see plenty of grass through the leaf bits. If you can not, there are too many to mulch in one pass.

Option 2: Rake or blow and remove

Under big oaks and maples, the volume is often too much to mulch. Rake or blow the heavy piles off the lawn and use them in beds as mulch or compost, or put them out for your township leaf pickup.

Timing matters

• Do not wait for every leaf to fall. Two or three passes through the season are better than one huge cleanup.
• Make sure the lawn is mostly clear before the first snow.
• Keep mowing until the grass stops growing, and make the last cut a little shorter than usual.

Set your lawn up for spring

A clean lawn going into winter recovers faster in spring. If your lawn struggled this year, now is a great time to get on the schedule for next season’s program. Read our winter lawn care tips for what to do next.