Each fall, property owners are faced with a choice: remove leaves from the lawn, let them be, or mulch them in the turf. Opinions vary on which is best. But it turns out that mulching or letting the leaves lie could both be good options, when done right.

This is according to an ongoing long-term study by researchers in the Department of Plant Pathology. Their results consistently indicate that lawn plots left with 5 centimeters of leaf cover (mulched or unmulched, with some visible turf) fare better during the winter. These plots experience the least amount of smothering and snow mold damage and the highest turf quality and color, the latter likely due to added organic matter and nutrients. The findings are compared to untreated control plots and plots with no visible turf.

This article was posted in Fall 2024, Healthy Ecosystems, Number Crunching and tagged lawn care, leaf mulch, plant pathology, snow mold, turf quality.