When Should You Remove Leaves in Georgia? Raking, Mulching and Lawn Health

This guide covers when to deal with fall leaves in north Georgia, whether to rake, blow or mow them into the lawn, and what bermuda, zoysia, centipede and tall fescue each need. Most of it comes from UGA Extension. Where we lean on research from another state, we say so, because most of the leaf studies were not done on Georgia lawns.

If you are trying to figure out what a cleanup costs, that is in our separate guide on leaf removal prices in Lawrenceville. This page is about timing and lawn health.

When should you remove leaves in Georgia?

Start when leaves begin covering the grass and keep up with them through November, when north Georgia's fall color peaks, instead of waiting for the last leaf to come down.

For the 2026 season, a Georgia Forestry Commission forester told FOX 5 Atlanta that lower elevations were about 50% changed on October 29, and that much of north Georgia should hit peak color the first week of November. That is FOX 5's report of what the Forestry Commission said.

Freeze dates matter too. The National Weather Service office in Peachtree City lists these averages for the nearest reference cities. We could not find a separate first-freeze date for Lawrenceville or Gwinnett.

Source: NWS Atlanta/Peachtree City, frost and freeze page. Across the state, the NWS says the average first freeze runs from mid-October in northeast Georgia to mid-November in central Georgia. It defines a hard freeze as 28 F or colder for several hours.

Why the freeze matters for leaves: UGA Extension in Lincoln County points out that warm-season grass does not go dormant until the first hard freeze, so it is still growing, slowly, while most of the leaves are falling.

You don't have to pick one big weekend. UGA Lincoln County says you can rake gradually through fall or all at once near the end; the goal either way is to keep a layer of leaves from killing your grass. If you plan to mow leaves into the lawn, Iowa State University Extension (an out-of-state source) says it works best when the layer is thin and dry, which means mowing often in fall.

Do leaves actually kill grass?

A light layer of leaves does not hurt grass and can help it, but a thick layer blocks sunlight and traps moisture, and that can kill turf.

UGA Extension in Towns and Union counties says a light layer of leaves benefits grass, while leaves that are too thick can damage it. UGA Extension in Lincoln County goes further. It says to remove leaves, pine needles and anything else lying on the lawn, because anything that blocks sunlight and traps moisture can kill turfgrass and add disease and insect problems. A UGA CAES article on composting says the same thing in short: leaves that fall on turfgrass lawns should be removed, since they can block light or favor disease.

Virginia Cooperative Extension (out-of-state) explains how it happens. A thick leaf layer blocks sunlight and reduces turf growth, and the leaves hold moisture against the grass, which raises the chance of disease.

So the real question is how thick the layer is. Purdue University (out-of-state) draws the line at leaves so heavy you can't see the turf underneath; that is when to rake. Below that, Purdue says moderate amounts can be mowed in.

How many leaves is too many?

If you can still see plenty of grass through the leaves, mow them in; if you can barely see the grass, rake or blow some off first and mow the rest.

These rules of thumb come from extension services in Wisconsin and Indiana, not Georgia, but they match UGA's advice that a light layer is fine and a thick one is not.

Michigan State University Extension (out-of-state) says up to 6 inches of leaves can be mulched at a time, depending on the mower. Iowa State (out-of-state) says the goal is pieces small enough to fall down between the grass blades.

Should you mulch leaves or remove them?

For a normal layer, mowing the leaves into the lawn is the easiest choice and UGA Extension shows how to do it; take leaves off when the layer is too thick, wet and matted, or from plants that had a disease.

UGA's Frank Watson writes that with a little rain, newly mulched leaves melt away in just a few days and return nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Gwinnett County Water Resources also says that mulching leaves into the turf with a mulching mower can be beneficial.

The studies people quote about mulching leaves were done in other states:

• Purdue (Indiana), as summarized by Virginia Cooperative Extension: up to 4,000 pounds of maple leaves per acre were mulched into perennial ryegrass with no harm to turf quality, color, thatch, soil pH, weeds or disease. The same summary says mulched leaves are not a substitute for nitrogen fertilizer.
• Michigan State: MSU says experience has shown nearly a 100 percent decrease in dandelions and crabgrass after three years of mulching leaves.
• Michigan State: visible leaf residue lasts only a few days, and researchers noticed less fertilizer was needed to get the lawn to green up in spring.

Here is the Georgia catch. UGA turf specialist Clint Waltz, quoted by Walter Reeves in 2011 (a secondary source), pointed out that the mulched-leaf research used ryegrass, which is rare in Georgia, not the bermuda, zoysia or centipede most Georgia lawns have. He said it is most applicable to tall fescue, and that it is an open question for bermuda and zoysia (because of thatch) and for centipede (because of soil pH). He still favored mulching leaves or using them in beds over sending them to the landfill.

That landfill point is real. UGA Extension Circular 816 says landscape refuse, meaning leaves, grass clippings and trimmings, accounts for up to 20% of the waste going into landfills.

How to mulch leaves with your mower (the UGA method)

Mow when the leaves are dry, blow them into a row toward the middle of the lawn, and run over the row until the pieces are dime-size or smaller, then spread them out.

1. Clear the lawn first. Pick up sticks and limbs, and wear goggles and a dust mask. This safety step is from Virginia Cooperative Extension (out-of-state).
2. Wait for dry leaves. UGA says don't try to mulch when the leaves are wet; even a new blade won't pick up wet leaves matted to the ground. Virginia Extension adds that leaves that are too wet strain the engine and don't chop well.
3. Make a row. Mow around the lawn with the discharge pointed toward the center, so the leaves end up in one long row (a windrow). UGA Circular 816 says windrows about 1 foot high shred more efficiently.
4. Raise the deck. Set the mower deck as high as it will go and run over the row.
5. Keep going. Run over it until most pieces are dime-size or smaller, then spread them out across the lawn.

You don't need a special mulching blade. UGA says a regular blade works, though the leaves take a little longer to break down. A blade with worn fan tips loses its vacuum and mulches poorly, so check yours before leaf season. You don't need a bag attachment either, but one makes it easier to collect chopped leaves for a compost pile or your beds.

The high deck setting is just for the leaf pass. For regular cuts, UGA's lawn calendars list 2 to 3 inches for tall fescue, 1 to 2 inches for zoysia, centipede and common bermuda, and 1 to 1.5 inches for hybrid bermuda. The bermuda, zoysia and fescue calendars also say to take off no more than one third of the height at once. If you would rather not keep up with it, we offer regular mowing in Lawrenceville and nearby towns.

Which Georgia lawn grasses are growing when the leaves fall?

Bermuda, zoysia and centipede are slowing down and heading into winter dormancy when leaves fall, while tall fescue is in one of its two main growing seasons.

Sources: UGA Extension Bulletin 1533-1 (growing seasons, temperatures, sun hours), UGA Extension Forsyth County (end of August), UGA Extension Lincoln County (first hard freeze). The mulching notes in the last column are UGA's Clint Waltz as quoted by Walter Reeves, a secondary source.

Leaves on bermuda, zoysia and centipede in fall and winter

These warm-season grasses keep growing slowly until the first hard freeze, then turn brown and go dormant, so keep heavy leaves off them in fall and keep some grass blades showing through any chopped-leaf layer.

As the table above shows, UGA says these grasses slow down after August but don't go fully dormant until the first hard freeze, which the NWS defines as 28 F or below for several hours.

Sun is the other issue. UGA says bermuda typically performs poorly in shade and does best with 8 or more hours of sun, while some zoysia cultivars keep their quality with as little as 4.0 to 4.5 hours. A yard with big hardwoods already shades the grass, and a leaf layer on top blocks more light. That last point is our reasoning from the UGA and Virginia sources, not a separate study.

Once your bermuda is brown and dormant, Walter Reeves (2023) says dime-sized leaf pieces settle into a bermuda lawn fine, and suggests leaving some of the brown grass blades sticking up through the leaf layer. Keep the Waltz caveat in mind: the research behind leaf mulching was on ryegrass, so for bermuda, zoysia and centipede it is an educated guess, not a tested result.

UGA's advice to remove leaves from turf does not carve out an exception for dormant grass, so a thick, whole-leaf layer should still come off a brown lawn.

Leaves on tall fescue

Tall fescue is the common north Georgia lawn grass that is actively growing in fall, so leaves piled on it shade it during its growing season.

UGA says tall fescue is best adapted to Georgia's Piedmont region, with its southern boundary at roughly Griffin. Cool-season grasses like it grow well in spring and fall, when temperatures average 60 to 75 F, and tall fescue grows rapidly in those seasons and can stay green all year, when warm-season lawns are dormant and brown.

Put that next to Virginia Extension's finding that a thick leaf layer blocks sunlight and reduces turf growth, and our takeaway is simple: on fescue, don't let leaves pile up in October and November. That is our reading of the two sources together, not a separate study.

Fescue is also where mulching has the best backing. Waltz said the ryegrass research is most applicable to tall fescue. Mow the leaves in at the high deck setting, then go back to UGA's 2 to 3 inch height for regular cuts.

Using leaves in your beds and under pine straw

Leaves make free mulch for beds: shred them, spread 3 to 5 inches around shrubs and trees, or use them as a base under fresh pine straw.

Beds are the one place UGA says leaves can stay. A UGA CAES article says leaves that fall in shrub and tree areas may be left to benefit the soil, and UGA Extension in Towns and Union counties says leaves in beds act as mulch and cut down on weeds.

UGA's Paul Pugliese gives the details:

• Shred the leaves first with a lawn mower, bagging attachment or leaf shredder, so they don't blow out of the beds.
• A 3 to 5 inch layer of shredded leaves can go around trees, shrubs, annuals or perennials.
• Shredded leaves can be a base under a top layer of bark or pine straw, which cuts how much mulch you have to buy.
• If you take the leaves out of a bed, replace them with some other mulch.

Keep the leaves on top of the soil. UGA Circular 816 warns that uncomposted leaves dug into the soil in large amounts tie up nitrogen and can cause poor plant growth.

Pine needles work differently. Virginia Cooperative Extension (out-of-state) says pine needles can't be mulched into turf like leaves, because they resist breakdown for months. That is the same reason pine straw lasts as a bed mulch. UGA says 4 to 5 inches of fresh pine straw settles to about 2 inches.

If you would rather have the old leaves cleared out and a clean layer put down, pine straw is our specialty. See our page on fresh pine straw, or mulch for your beds if you prefer mulch.

Composting extra leaves

Leaves are the main ingredient in a backyard compost pile: mix about two parts leaves to one part green material, keep it moist and turn it every 2 to 3 weeks.

UGA Extension in Forsyth County says a pile built that way should be ready by spring. A UGA CAES article gives a layered version: 4-inch layers of leaves alternating with 1 to 2 inches of soil and kitchen scraps. It says a pile of 64 cubic feet has enough mass to stay warm most of the winter, and that the pile shrinks to about half its size by spring. Fully composted, UGA Circular 816 says leaves shrink to about 30% of their original volume.

Composting first also gets around the nitrogen problem of digging raw leaves into beds. Leave out leaves from any plant that had a fungus or other disease.

Which leaves should not stay where they fall?

Clear leaves off driveways and walkways, keep them out of the street and storm drains, and get rid of leaves from plants that had a disease.

• Driveways and walkways: UGA Extension in Towns and Union counties says to remove leaves there because they can create a hazard.
• Around plants that had disease: UGA Extension in Forsyth County says to clean up fallen leaves around landscape plants and discard leaves from plants that had fungus or other disease problems, so they can't reinfect the plants in spring.
• Wet, matted layers: these won't mulch, since even a new blade can't pick up wet leaves stuck to the ground, so rake them.
• The street, storm drains and ditches: Gwinnett County says don't blow, sweep or dump grass clippings or leaves into the street, storm drains or ditches; compost them or bag them for curbside pickup.

Gwinnett County Water Resources explains why: clippings, leaves and branches can block storm drains and pipes and cause damage that has to be repaired. The county asks you to keep yard waste on your property or in approved bags. For pickup days, bagging and burning rules, see our Gwinnett yard waste pickup guide.

When it is too much to handle yourself

If your lot has more leaves than your mower can chop in a pass or two, or a thick wet layer is sitting on the grass, that is the point where a leaf cleanup makes sense.

Cocho Landscape is based in Lawrenceville, in Gwinnett County, and does leaf removal in Lawrenceville and yard cleanup along with pine straw, mulch, mowing, edging, trimming and weedeating. We also work in Duluth, Suwanee, Buford, Dacula, Snellville, Lilburn, Grayson, Loganville, Sugar Hill, Norcross and Auburn; see the towns we cover in Gwinnett.

Estimates are free. Call (470) 274-1280 or send a photo of your yard for a free estimate.