Stuff I don't know

[Flint]

Originally Posted by glatt

If you have a lot of leaves, they will kill the grass. Also, even if you don't have that many leaves, some people find them unsightly.

Leaves fall in the autumn, which is followed by winter, during which the grass is in a dormant state. If anything, the ground covering of fallen leaves should provide insulation against the cold weather. By the time the growing season begins anew, the leaves should have decomposed and will be able to function as fertilizer. One might even say that eons of evolutionary processes have designed the leaves and the ground-covering vegetation to interact in this manner. So why do we rake leaves?