My lawn is a colorful mix of yellow, gold, and russet tones, draped in a thick layer of fallen leaves from my trees. And while I’m tempted to grab my garden rake and clear them up so I can see my lawn again, an expert urges gardeners to think twice before clearing them away.

Instead of raking my leaves into piles and tossing them in the garden trash, Craig Wilson, co-founder and garden expert at Gardeners Dream, shares how to reuse them to prevent weeds.

Rather than discarding fallen leaves, Wilson recommends shredding them into a natural mulch to place around plants to suppress weeds.

So what's the best way to shred leaves? Wilson explains, “Allow dry leaves to build up, then run over them with a lawnmower to shred them into smaller pieces.

I tend to place leaves on my beds without shredding them first, so I asked Wilson why he recommends breaking them down.

Shredding them first helps the leaves break down more easily and reduces the risk of whole leaves forming a thick, compacted layer

“Shredding them first helps the leaves break down more easily and reduces the risk of whole leaves forming a thick, compacted layer,” he explains.

And he adds, “The smaller pieces are easier to spread around flower beds and established plants and will generally break down more readily than whole leaves.”

If you shred leaves with a lawnmower, make sure you’ve left them to dry out before mowing over them—it will help you cut through them effectively.

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