Fall is a wonderful season, but it often brings one big nuisance—fallen leaves.

Removing them can be timeconsuming and rather grueling, especially since you must do it repeatedly over the months it takes them to fall. This year, save yourself the tiring work of raking your entire yard by considering these sustainable alternatives.

Mulch your leaves

When left in large quantities, leaves can be detrimental to your lawn’s health since they can prevent your soil from receiving oxygen and sunlight. To effectively rid yourself of them, use your lawn mower to mulch them, creating a broken-down material that will provide necessary nutrients to your soil. Many lawn mowers come with a mulching option, but if yours doesn’t, you can switch your mower to the highest setting and mulch your leaves that way. Mowing them into your lawn not only benefits your grass and soil but also keeps your lawn tidy for the upcoming seasons and prevents you from having to spend hours raking and bagging. It’s important to note, however, that this process works best with a thin layer of leaves; if you mulch too much at once, it may just end up sitting on top of your grass and killing it.

Insulate your plants

Piled-up leaves may not be good for your yard, but they can be great for your garden. Leaves provide a layer of protection for your plants’ roots, keeping the winter frost at bay and helping to ensure their bounty come spring. However, before insulating your plants, mulch the leaves with your mower since larger pieces can prevent your plants from receiving sufficient water throughout the winter. Once they’re shredded, you can place a layer around the base of your plants; for larger plants, create a wire frame that you can then fill with the mulched leaves.

Compost your leaves

It’s estimated that more than ten million tons of yard trimmings end up in landfills each year, preventing the reusable material from, well, being used. That’s why it’s important to consider composting your leaves this season. Compost piles are a great way to utilize this reusable resource and reduce your overall waste. Leaves will naturally decompose over an extended period of time, but adding them to a compost pile will speed up the process and provide you with nutrient-rich fertilizer you can use to improve the overall health of your garden. While you can add whole leaves to your compost bin, mulching will help them decompose even faster and allow you to have usable material more quickly.

Make leaf removal a little easier for yourself this year by utilizing your yard’s great resource to improve the health of both your yard and the planet.