The fall season here in Indiana can leave your lawn littered with dead branches and piles of leaves. Although it can be easy to ignore that debris when spring rolls around, that excess debris could be weakening your turf and making it harder for your lawn to emerge from winter dormancy. Debris does this by smothering your grass and blocking sunlight, water, and nutrients from reaching it. Debris also provides the perfect environment for harboring lawn diseases. Untouched debris can even attract pest infestations to your yard.

Debris can smother your grass.

Patchy lawn due to lack of nutrients from debris on yard in Westfield, IN.

Excess debris can smother your lawn by blocking sunlight, water, and vital nutrients from reaching the roots of your grass. This will make it particularly hard for your lawn to emerge from winter dormancy because the debris prevents your grass from having access to the things it needs to bounce back. Also, heavy debris like dead branches and wet leaf piles can put pressure on your lawn; this weight can cause your soil to become compacted, which means it won't be able to properly absorb water and nutrients. All of these things can take quite a toll on the overall health of your lawn and prevent it from being able to green up after the harsh winter season.

Debris can harbor harmful lawn diseases.

Large leaf piles and other debris can foster common lawn diseases, such as snow mold, brown patch, red thread, dollar spot, and pythium blight. This is due to the fact that debris traps moisture in your soil and grass, which provides the ideal conditions for mold and fungus to grow. This is particularly a problem in the spring because after any leftover snow has melted, the piles of debris will trap that moisture and limit air circulation, often resulting in the growth of mold or fungus. These diseases and fungi can also pose a threat to your entire yard by spreading rapidly across your lawn and even into your landscape beds. An easy way to help prevent these lawn diseases from infecting your turf this spring is to remove the excess debris from your yard.

Debris can attract pest infestations.

Beetle crawling out of pile of debris and leaves in Carmel, IN.

Leaf piles and other excess debris can attract a variety of pests to your property. Leaf piles are dark and moist, which provides the ideal environment for ants, spiders, roaches, beetles, and even termites. Piles of debris can also offer a warm, insulated place for these pests to inhabit. Leaf piles and other debris can even provide a potential food source for these pests; many insects prefer to feed on plant material, making decomposing leaves an ideal food source. Piles of excess debris also offer pests the perfect place to breed, which can lead to larger pest infestations in the near future. So, by leaving excess debris on your lawn this spring, you could be rolling out a welcome mat for a variety of pesky insects.

Debris can even attract pests like rodents and snakes to your property!

Give us a call to sign up for our spring cleanup service today!

Clearing excess debris off of your lawn is not just about aesthetics; it will also help to keep your lawn free of harmful pests and diseases. Our team here at Precision Cutz Lawn Care offers spring cleanups that will keep your yard clear of excess debris and give your lawn the kickstart it needs to green up beautifully this spring. We offer this service to the homes and businesses in Carmel, Fishers, Westfield, and neighboring communities in Indiana. If your lawn is in need of a pick-me-up this spring, give us a call at 317-965-7868 to sign up for our spring cleanup service today!