Commercial Lawn Care Clean Up Tips For Fall

Landworks provides commercial lawn care services that are important in the fall, including leaf cleanup and mulching, throughout Johnson County, KS. Autumn leaves piling up on your lawn are pretty now, but can mean trouble later if not cleared away. A little work this fall will help ensure a healthy, lush lawn and garden in the spring.

Commercial lawn care companies like Landworks remove excessive leaf matter from your lawn for several reasons. If left where it falls, it will smother the turf grass and hold in moisture all winter, promoting mold and mildew. Insects and small animals love to use fallen leaves as cover, so damage to your turf from pests is likely to be worse. Leaves still covering the grass in the spring will inhibit turf growth. Clearing away the leaves on your lawn lets sunshine in and allows oxygen supply to the roots, helping to prevent brown spots. 

A good rake can make all the difference when cleaning up fall leaves. Bigger gets the job done faster, as will a rake with “no clog” tines that do not puncture leaves so they don’t need to be cleared. Always rake when the ground is dry, as wet leaves are heavy and slippery, making it a much bigger chore than it needs to be. A leaf blower may save you time and a backache, depending on the size of your lawn.

Raking isn’t the only way to deal with fallen leaves. A commercial lawn care company may suggest mulching, meaning mincing leaves to shreds with your lawn mower as long as there aren’t too many leaves on your turf. Mulching is both easy and great for the health of your lawn. Decomposing leaves enhance the soil with valuable nutrients that feed the microbes and worms that help your turf stay lush and healthy. Plus, compared with raking, mulching leaves is much less work.

Many mowers have mulching capability built in, but you can also easily add a serrated blade specially designed for mulching leaves to a conventional, non-mulching mower. Neither is strictly necessary, however. Any type of lawn mower can mulch leaves, it just may take a couple extra passes to do the job thoroughly. Whatever type of mower you are using, set the blade to its highest setting and remove the bag that collects clippings.

Proceed to mow over the leaves, cutting them into shreds that are about a half-inch in diameter (more or less the size of a dime). It might take more than one pass to get the shreds to the desired size, depending on the volume of leaves you are mulching. The leaf shreds should fall between the blades of grass so that you can see most of the lawn when you are finished. You may need to collect some of the excess leaf matter, which can then be added to garden beds or compost.

Fall commercial lawn care services from Landworks will help ensure lush, green turf come spring. For more information about residential or commercial lawn care services, click here or call Landworks at (913) 422-9300.