INDIANAPOLIS — All those pretty leaves are about to descend on your house and yard, leaving you to deal with them, hopefully before they're covered by snow.
Pat Sullivan from Sullivan Hardware and Garden offered some options to help you see grass again.
"Some people are into raking and bagging, and having it perfect," said Sullivan. "Others like to mulch and do nothing."
When they come down, you should be doing something about them.
To help you rake and bag, Sullivan said you can use a funnel that sits inside a bag. In Indianapolis, leave collection begins Nov. 8 and you must use plastic bags, not paper, when you put your leaf bags at the curb for pickup.
Blowing leaves has become more popular as battery power has improved the run time of cordless blowers. Sullivan demonstrated a cordless blower with a 90-minute battery life on 13Sunrise. "Everyone likes to use the blower," Sullivan said. "But nobody really likes to pick it up." Just know that leaves will not stay in the same spot forever, so once you blow, bag up the pile.
Mulching
Rather than raking or blowing and putting leaves in bags, you may consider mulching them into your yard with a lawnmower.
Mulching works best when leaves are dry and before they get too deep for the mower to pull them under the cutting deck and chop them into small pieces. "The idea is to get the finest particles you can," said Sullivan, "because they compost the quickest because there's not as much surface area."
Composted leaves provide nutrients for your lawn.
Watch Sullivan's full 13Sunrise segment in the video player.