Temperatures are falling, Thanksgiving is around the corner and peak fall color has passed for most of the Northeast. Now comes the fun part – cleaning up all those leaves! While golfers are mainly concerned about losing balls, superintendents want to keep leaves from piling up to avoid short- and long-term agronomic issues.
A heavy leaf mat limits photosynthesis and air circulation, suffocating the turf. Under prolonged cover, the grass yellows, thins or dies out entirely. Leaves also trap moisture against the turf canopy, creating ideal conditions for diseases like snow mold. Additionally, leaf-covered turf is slower to thaw after freezing temperatures, which increases the risk of various types of winter injury.
Actually cleaning up the leaves is where the difficulty lies. Leaves must be blown off greens, tees and fairways to allow for play and ensure late-season fertilizer or spray applications can be made properly. If you have convenient places to blow leaves into the woods where they can decompose without disrupting anything, that is a great option, but this is not always feasible. Vacuuming leaves is another common approach, but can be time consuming for large amounts of leaves or if they need to be hauled long distances. Many courses mulch leaves once they are blown into the rough or peripheral areas. This can be a good option, but you may need to go over the leaves multiple times to make sure no clumps are smothering the turf. On some rough mowers, it's possible to reverse the decks in the fall, which is a handy way to increase mulching efficiency. Whether you are mulching or removing leaves, you want to have as much turf visible as possible when it's done. It’s also a good idea to vary the location for mulching to avoid concentrating mechanical wear as you drive back and forth over the leaves.
Keeping leaves from piling up not only helps golfers find their ball, it goes a long way toward setting turf up for success heading into winter, so try to be as thorough as time and resources allow.
Northeast Region Agronomists:
Darin Bevard, senior director, Championship Agronomy – dbevard@usga.org
Elliott L. Dowling, regional director, East Region – edowling@usga.org
Brian Gietka, agronomist – bgietka@usga.org