We are now officially in the fall season! It means beautiful blue skies, gorgeous sunsets and crisp cool temperatures. It also means there is lots of maintenance work to be done out in the yard. Not that it really is ‘work’, since it is so crisp and cool outside it becomes much more of a fun task.

As you peruse your garden tools looking for the rakes, also look for your blowers and extension cords or batteries. You are going to need every helpful tool you can find to help you with the cascade of leaves coming down.

Many people will use blowers to get the leaves into a pile in order to pick them up. Battery powered blowers have progressed to be a much bigger help than in the past when they didn’t have much power. However, the battery will run down before you are done so it is good to have an electric or gas powered blower as a backup.

If you are able to do a bit each weekend that will help you to avoid a huge job down the road. In addition when the leaves lay on the grass for a long period they start to mat down and this can be detrimental for the grasses. They are not able to get the sunlight they need and may start to die back so you want to be sure to keep the lawn areas clear of leaves.

An additional way to use your leaves as opposed to disposing of them is to mulch them with a mower and then add them to your planting beds around shrubs and perennials. This is a great way to feed your plantings and get rid of leaves all at the same time.