Should you rake your leaves or mow them in San Antonio?

For most San Antonio lawns, mow the leaves instead of raking them. Texas A&M AgriLife says a light covering of leaves can be mowed and left right where it lands. Rake only when the leaves get so thick you can’t see about half the grass, and put the extra in your beds, not the trash.

Why mow leaves instead of raking them?

Because the leaves are worth keeping. AgriLife says leaves hold 50 to 80 percent of the nutrients a tree pulled from the soil and air that season. Chop them up and those nutrients go back into your yard as the pieces break down.

It’s also less work. An AgriLife horticulture agent calls mowing over leaves the simplest, easiest way to use them, since the pieces fall down between the grass blades. In his words, it takes no extra work because you’re mowing anyway.

Your grass type helps. He notes that most people have a St. Augustine lawn, which is a coarse grass, so it’s easy to mow leaves into it.

SAWS says the same thing: a light covering of leaf pieces breaks down over time and feeds the grass and the soil under it.

How many leaves is too many?

Look at the lawn after you mow. If you can still see plenty of grass, you’re fine.

The clearest rule we found comes from the University of Minnesota’s lawn program: keep mowing leaves in until you can only see about half of the lawn. Once less than half the grass shows, start bagging. They warn that too much leaf litter left on top is bad for the lawn come spring. That’s a northern program, but the idea carries: a thin layer helps, a thick blanket doesn’t.

SAWS puts it in plain terms. If your trees dropped too heavy a pile to tackle with a mower, rake it up and move it.

What’s the right way to mow leaves in?

A few things make it work:

1. Mow while the layer is still thin. AgriLife says mowing works well during light leaf drop, so don’t wait for every leaf to fall.
2. Use a mulching mower if you have one. AgriLife says the method is most effective with a mulching mower.
3. Mow when the leaves are dry and go over them twice. Minnesota’s advice is to double pass for a finer mulch so the pieces break down quickly.

Small pieces are the point. They can fall down between the grass blades.

What do you do with the extra leaves?

Put them in your beds. AgriLife says a mower with a bag is a fast and easy way to shred and collect leaves, and shredded leaves stay put better than whole ones. Their numbers: 3 to 6 inches of shredded leaves around trees and shrubs, and 2 to 3 inches in flower beds.

SAWS likes leaves in beds for a reason that matters here. Leaf litter helps hold down weeds and locks in moisture, which means less watering.

If you still have more than the yard can use, they go in the green organics cart. SAWS says to keep leaves out of the brown cart, where they only end up in a landfill.

In San Antonio

Our leaf season runs late and comes twice.

The first round is the trees that go bare for winter. SAWS calls autumn a loosely used term around South Texas, so don’t count on a set date. Mow the leaves in as they come, and keep at it while the lawn slows down for winter.

The second round is the live oaks. They drop their old leaves in late winter and spring as the new ones come out, and it is normal. We cover it in when live oaks drop their leaves.

Worried about oak and pecan leaves making the soil sour? SAWS says any acid in those leaves is buffered by the time they break down. And with our alkaline soil, a little acid would only help.

If you do bag, know the city’s rules. San Antonio will pick up bagged leaves at the curb when you ask, with two free collections per fiscal year and a $20 fee for each one after that. The leaves have to be in two-ply kraft paper bags, never plastic, no more than 50 bags at a time and 40 pounds a bag. Call 3-1-1 or use the city’s online form.

What to do this week

1. Check your mower. If it has a mulching setting or a plug for the side chute, find it now.
2. Keep mowing at your normal height. Mow over the first light leaves when they’re dry.
3. Pick the beds that will take your extra leaves. Around trees and shrubs is the easy spot.
4. If you’ll need the city’s leaf pickup, buy the kraft paper bags before the big drop.

If the leaves have already gotten ahead of you, we do leaf removal. Here is what leaf removal costs in San Antonio. Text a photo of the yard and we price it the same day.

Want the lawn handled too? See every plan on our lawn mowing page.