The fall foliage in certain areas of Illinois is known for being especially impressive. While fall leaves are beautiful to look at, they can also release nutrients as they decompose that can help your grass grow. However, this is only true for small amounts of leaves. The fall season brings large piles of leaves that may be tempting to leave on your lawn until the spring. These large leaf piles can pose a threat to the health of your grass. They do this by fostering lawn diseases, attracting insect infestations, and blocking sunlight, nutrients, and water from reaching the roots of your grass.

Large leaf piles can smother your lawn.

Leaf piles smother your lawn by blocking sunlight, water, and vital nutrients from reaching the roots of your grass. This will make it even more difficult for your lawn to bounce back in the spring because your leaf piles will prevent it from accessing everything it needs to survive the winter. Also, any precipitation that falls during the winter will be absorbed into your leaf piles, making them heavier; a lot of weight pushing down on your lawn can lead to the soil becoming compacted, which can result in further difficulties with your grass receiving the nutrients that it needs. All of these things will take a toll on your lawn's overall health and decrease your turf's resistance to lawn diseases and insect infestations.

Large leaf piles can foster lawn diseases.

Brown patch lawn disease after leaves were left all season in Roxana, IL.

Large leaf piles can foster common winter lawn diseases such as snow mold, brown patch, red thread, dollar spot, and pythium blight. As the snow and ice melt in the spring, your ignored leaf piles will form a barrier that traps the moisture in the ground and limits air circulation, which can trigger these lawn diseases. These diseases and fungi can spread across your lawn and even to your landscape beds, meaning that leaf piles can pose a threat to your entire property if left untouched.

Large leaf piles can attract insect infestations.

Wet, dark piles of leaves are the ideal bait for attracting insects. By ignoring your leaf piles this fall, you are rolling out a welcome mat for pests like ants, beetles, spiders, earwigs, and even termites. This is because leaf piles are filled with organic matter which makes an excellent food source for insects. The moisture in leaf piles provides warmth and insulation for insects searching for shelter for the upcoming winter as well. Leaf piles also offer the perfect place for pests to breed, which can lead to larger infestations in the near future.

Besides pesky insects, untouched leaf piles can also attract pests such as snakes and rats!

Call our lawn maintenance professionals to sign up for our leaf removal service today!

Curbside leaf removal services in Wood River, IL.

Removing the leaves from your lawn can be stressful and tiring. Call our lawn maintenance professionals at Element Turf & Outdoor Solutions, LLC to take the stress out of leaf removal. We offer both curbside leaf pickup and full-service leaf removal; our team can either pick up and properly discard leaves that you've already collected or we can collect your leaves ourselves and then dispose of them. Since 2009, we have provided these services to property owners in Alton, Godfrey, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville and surrounding communities in Illinois.

We are a tight-knit, locally-owned lawn care and maintenance company that is dedicated to providing you with the best service possible. Call us at (618) 467-7047 to schedule our curbside leaf pickup or full-service leaf removal today! We look forward to working with you to help you remove all of the leaves off of your property so you won't have to worry about any of the problems that they can cause.