I’ve got plenty of trees in my yard, and right now I’m enjoying watching the wind carry the leaves to the ground. But despite creating a bright gold-and-russet spectacle across my lawn, I’m worried that as they pile up, they’ll damage the grass and keep it from performing well in the spring.

While I usually get out my garden rake to clear them and use them in my beds and borders to stop weeds, I’m wondering what to do with the pile that remains, and what benefits raking and mowing leaves provide. For expert advice, I asked Jonathan Davis, grass expert at Lawnsmith, whether raking or mowing the leaves is best.

Davis explains that raking leaves removes them completely, which he says matters because “a layer of leaves can smother grass and kill it in just a few weeks.”

He adds, “Leaves also reduce the grass’s vigor, which lets moss take over, and they can encourage lawn disease and attract worms.”

Once raked, he recommends adding them to your borders as a mulch or into your compost heap. Alternatively, if you have the space, he says, “Stack them in a corner or in a bin bag with a few holes in it and leave them for a year or two to make leaf mold, which is an excellent soil improver.”

It’s best if you wait for the leaves to dry out before raking. “Dry leaves are light and lift easily off the grass. Wet leaves mat together into a heavy, slippery layer that’s hard work to rake, and they stick to the lawn,” says Davis.

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