Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff. I'm Laurenvoglebomb, and today we've got a classic
Speaker 1: episode for you. In this one, we get into the
Speaker 1: environmental science around raking leaves off of lawns. It's actually
Speaker 1: doing both your grass and your community a disservice. Welcome
Speaker 1: to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Voglebomb. Here to a lot of folks, some of
Speaker 1: the best fall memories include raking and jumping in huge
Speaker 1: piles of leaves before squeezing them into bags and placing
Speaker 1: them by the curb to be hauled off to the landfill.
Speaker 1: Some folks are old enough to remember when burning leaves
Speaker 1: with standard practice. These days, however, neither is looked upon
Speaker 1: with approving eyes. Breaking bagging, and hauling leaves away might
Speaker 1: make your yard look like a showplace, but it's no
Speaker 1: longer considered environmentally friendly. Why Well, like we said, those
Speaker 1: lawn refuse bags go to the landfill, and according to
Speaker 1: the US Environmental Protection Agency, in twenty fifteen, yard trimmings
Speaker 1: accounted for thirty four point seven million tons of municipal
Speaker 1: solid waste. The majority of that twenty one point three
Speaker 1: million tons was recovered and composted or mulched in state programs,
Speaker 1: but ten point eight million tons still went to the landfill.
Speaker 1: That's more than eight percent of total waste generated in
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. However, if you have a lawn that you
Speaker 1: want to maintain, getting rid of the fallen leaves is
Speaker 1: essential because not only will wet leaves smothering kill the grass,
Speaker 1: they can also prevent new growth from taking hold come springtime.
Speaker 1: So what are you to do rather than raking and bagging.
Speaker 1: The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service suggests mowing
Speaker 1: the leaves with a multure instead. A multure is a
Speaker 1: machine similar to a lawnmower in that it cuts grass
Speaker 1: as you pushed along, except it has specialized blades that
Speaker 1: keep chopping the clippings into very fine pieces. By mulching
Speaker 1: dry lea, which essentially shreds them into dime sized pieces,
Speaker 1: you've created free food for your yard. The tiny pieces
Speaker 1: of shredded leaves will filter down between the blades of
Speaker 1: grass and add vital nutrients like nitrogen back to the soil.
Speaker 1: The ideal time to melt the leaves is when you
Speaker 1: can see the blades of grass start poking through the
Speaker 1: blanket of leaves. That may mean weakly mulchings depending on these,
Speaker 1: size of your yard and the number of trees. You
Speaker 1: don't want to completely cover your lawn with a thick
Speaker 1: layer of mulch, though, so if the leaves get too heavy,
Speaker 1: rake the extra ones in a pile and then spread
Speaker 1: them around your trees or shrubs. In addition to adding
Speaker 1: back nutrients, molting your garden has other benefits. It helps
Speaker 1: keep weeds at bay, holds moisture in the soil, and
Speaker 1: helps moderate soil temperatures. Your lawn, trees, shrubs, and the
Speaker 1: environment will thank you for mulching instead of raking the leaves.
Speaker 1: Some cities and municipalities have stopped picking up bagged yard
Speaker 1: clipigs altogether, including leaves, because of the cost and environmental concerns.
Speaker 1: Rather than continuing to raise taxes for garbage pickup, they've
Speaker 1: offer mulching workshops and called on homeowners to invest money
Speaker 1: into mulchers or mulching blades for lawnmowers so that they
Speaker 1: can beautify their yards with homegrown mulch like yard confetti.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article why you should
Speaker 1: stop breaking fall Leave's stat on HowStuffWorks dot com written
Speaker 1: by Patty Resmusen. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in
Speaker 1: partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and it's produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows.