[Daox]

This weekend I found my wife raking the lawn. I asked her why she was doing this. She said she didn't know, she just always raked in the fall.

So, we looked up why you're supposed to rake. I guess the the leaves block the sun and can kill the grass. It also is a good idea to dethatch the lawn (get up the dead grass clippings) so the lawn can breathe.

Okay, this makes sense. Kind of a huge pain with a big yard though. I've never really raked leaves before and the lawn has never been that bad (never been great either admittedly). I really don't like the idea of raking leaves and having them hauled off by trucks. So, if I do end up raking, I'll definitly just throw them on in a pile and decompose them on my own land.

Do you rake and dethatch, or just let leaves decompose over winter and spring?