BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Is it worth to clean up the leave on the lawn or better to leave them where they are? It's a question many people are asking.
For Ramon Melendez, it is simple, on a beautiful, sun-filled autumn day, he is raking.
"It gives me great satisfaction it makes my house look nice," he said.
The trees that line his neighborhood eventually drop their leaves, so there's only one thing to do.
"People ask well why do you rake? Well, number one because if I don’t rake it will kill my grass and lawns cost money to maintain, and number two, I’m a good neighbor," he said.
When raking, he even keeps pedestrians and bikers in mind.
"I rake my sidewalks and I rake the city property," he added.
But when it comes down to it, which option should you take? Horticulturist Sally Cunningham said, it dpeneds.
"If you have thick oak leaves like these, they don't break down too easily so I would say chop them up with a lawn mower," Cunningham said.
As for smaller leaves, she said, leave them.
"They blow in the wind, they feed the soil, they're full of moisture, they're a good thing to add whether it's too the lawn or to the compost pile," she added.
The big thing she added is to let the leaves break down, they provide nutrition for your lawn.
"It's easy to use the organic matter," she said.
But, she said to be careful of winter mold.
"There's no reason to rake them up unless they're matting over your lawn, and for good lawn care, it's good to not leave them matter over," she suggested.
If you have pine needles and broken leaves, Cunningham said, use them for mulch.
"They all feed the soil, so it's a shame to waste this material and make our towns and cities pay for picking it up when we could use it in our yards," she said.
As for Melendez, he said he is going to stick with raking, at least for now!
"It's exhausting, I'm getting too old for this stuff. I'm ready to downsize," he said laughing.
