Gardeners are being warned not to remove autumnal leaves from their lawns because their “business is far from over”. 

According to ecological writer Alys Fowler, they are “called leaves for a reason” and can actually be healthy for the plant they fell from. This, she says, is because they can help soil store more carbon.

Alys claims this helps not just your lawn but your wider garden to take up minerals and water. The leaves can also offer a home to insects, beetles and worms, explains Alys.

And while the leaves may look messy to begin with, the keen gardener explained the winter wind will brush them away. It is then worms will be able to break them down and push them deeper into the soil.

In Gardeners’ World magazine, Alys writes: “They’re called leaves for a reason; to be left alone to do their essential work. They may look spent but their business is far from done, both for the plant they left and the wider world around them.”

She added: “Soil can hold up to 30 percent more carbon if the autumn leaves are left to rot. Carbon feeds the soil food web, particularly mycorrhizal fungi, which improves not only the trees’ ability to take up water and minerals, but also the lawn and wider garden.”

Alys highlights the elephant hawk moth, with its distinctive pink and olive green colour as something that exists because of rotting leaves. She says leaf litter is a vital place where moths such as the elephant hawk can make cocoons. 

However, Lawn Association chairman David Hedges-Gower says leaves can “suffocate and kill” grass. He says leafmould can kill even the healthiest of lawns.

He believes letting the leaves rot in your garden means you will have to overseed it in the spring while watering it to maintain its health. He does however claim raking your leaves and putting them on your garden bed can help your lawn endure winter. 

He said: “Neglecting our lawns by leaving fallen leaves not only harms them but creates unnecessary work each year, increasing our unsustainable footprint. Unlike other garden areas, lawns require attention year-round.” 

David believes “protecting” your lawn should be a “priority” as it helps create a sustainable outdoor space and “enhances your garden’s beauty year round”. He champions making your lawn easy to manage and sustainable. 

The Royal Horticultural Society says leafmould can, especially if it has been rotting long enough, seed-sowing compost or garden compost. Leafmould that has been rotting for under two years it says can be used as mulch, soil improver, autumn top-dressing for lawns, or winter covering for bare soil.

It can however become infected with weeds, meaning gardeners making their own leafmould compost should be cautious. While leaves found on the street can be contaminated with rubbish so should be checked before being added onto a leafmould pile.