Looking at a yard full of leaves can be like having an itch and not scratching it, but experts say, it can help provide a natural fertilizer for your lawn, which saves you from having to do more yardwork.
David Mizejewski, a naturalist with the National Wildlife Federation, said, "They slowly break down and compost, and return the nutrients right to the root zone of the plant, that's literally mulch and fertilizer. But again, we've been kind of taught to get rid off all those leaves and then go out and buy mulch and fertilizer."
He also said that putting them in bags doesn't just create more yard work later, it actually hurts the environment since they usually end up in landfills that produce greenhouse gasses, and taking away a potential home for wildlife.
Mizejewski said, "When we do that, we're we remove really important habitat for all sorts of cool wildlife species that could actually share our neighborhoods if we just gave them a habitat."
If you've already bagged your leaves, don't worry, he said that you can save them over the winter, and use them as compost for your spring garden.
