The leaves are almost down, and many of us are facing the task of leaf cleanup. Before completely denuding your site, please take into consideration the following:

DO REMOVE leaves from the tops of shrubs to avoid branch breakage under a heavy snow.

DO allow leaves to remain at the base of trees and shrubs, especially moisture loving plants such as Azaleas and Rhododendrons. A lot of moisture is lost due to the desiccating winter winds. The leaves will provide a valuable layer of insulation, and will keep the moisture in.

DO REMOVE leaves from lawns and evergreen groundcover such as Pachysandra, Vinca minor and Liriope, or evergreen perennials such as Helleborus species, Euphorbia species and Sedum ‘Weihenstephaner Gold’. These all need sun exposure in order to thrive. A section completely covered by leaves could die out.

DO allow the normal leaf fall to remain on most perennials, but DO NOT increase this quantity by blowing leaves from other areas onto the perennial beds. As long as the tips of basel foliage receive a glimmer of sunshine, they will do fine. Most natural leaf fall is only 2 to 4 inches thick. In early March, DO REMOVE enough leaves from the perennial beds so that the new growth can push through. A combination of light blowing and light raking usually does the job nicely.

DO REMOVE leaves from areas where spring bulbs will bloom. I find it easier to complete this job in the fall, BUT this can wait until the end of February or the very beginning of March when the foliage begins to emerge. Unfortunately, if the leaves remain too long, the foliage will emerge white and weak. After exposure to the sun, the foliage will turn green, but the stems may not recover enough strength to support the blooms that will follow. In addition, the foliage may not stand up as straight as it would otherwise.

DO move your leaves to a MULCH PILE that in time will provide you with rich, humus soil for all of your future planting needs.

DO chop up leaves and then broadcast them back on your planting beds, if time and energy permit. These chopped leaves, Mother Nature’s Mulch can be piled on fairly thick without harm to the plants. Decomposition time will be reduced, and the pieces are small enough to allow new growth to push through easily in the spring. If this work is done in the fall, then nothing need be done in March. You can try blowing the leaves onto the grass, running over these dry leaves with a lawn mower, and then blowing the chopped leaves back onto the perennial beds.

WINTER LAWN CARE

December is a perfect time to apply a slow release lime to your lawn. Once all of the leaves have been removed, an application of lime will slowly penetrate the soil to increase the alkalinity which in turn strengthens the root system of your grass.