As the leaves fall from the trees they must land somewhere. Often that will be on the lawn. Leaves left on the lawn too long will shade the grass out, even killing it if they aren’t removed. It’s hard work, I know, but I like to rake the leaves into a pile before using a blower-vac to suck them up through the tube and past the blades that chop them into finer pieces that can then be used as mulch in the vegetable garden. The leaves do an excellent job of keeping the annual winter weeds from invading the garden before I get the chance to plant spring crops.

Early in the fall when there are only a few leaves, I’ll often use the lawn mower to chop the leaves and let them filter into the grass where they can return valuable nutrients to the soil. I hope these leaves are also working as a mulch to prevent winter weeds from growing in the lawn. I don’t see as many I as used to, so I hope it’s working.

I sometimes get asked what herbicide to spray to get rid of the winter weeds at this time of the month. My answer is none. Wait until the grass has gone dormant before spraying for winter annual weeds. Grass is most susceptible to herbicides while it is going dormant and coming out of dormancy. Spraying now, could possibly damage the grass that the sprays are meant to protect.