Here they come. Leaves are falling and questions about them are piling up.

The loyal reader knows I have a long and deep history with leaves. I grew up on a tree-filled "Gentleman's estate." My dad, who I suppose was the "gentleman," believed, as did everyone else in his day, that leaves had to be raked up.

Have I mentioned the estate consisted of 8 acres? And have I noted before that Dad steadfastly refused to let anyone use a leaf blower on his property?

I still have blisters on my hands from those days, this despite the fact I have not held a rake for more than eight or nine years. That's right. I don't rake anymore and, for the most part, I suggest you put down those rakes as well.

Some of you freak out over the idea of not raking. Isn't it un-American? Won't it smother the lawn over the long winter? And what about all those leaf miners and aphids? Won't they proliferate in the leaves and cause even more problems next year?

OK, let's take care of these worries. First, the aphids and leaf miners. Aphids lay eggs to survive over the winter. In warmer climates, they usually do so on the underside of perennial leaves.

Here? Well I suspect they lay eggs on the bark of trees. They may deposit eggs on fall leaves. However, the dynamics of aphid populations and ability to breed asexually means you could collect every leaf in the world and still have aphids next year.

As for the leaf miners, they pupate in the soil during the winter. The host leaves really have nothing to do with their survival during this period.

Next, you will not end up smothering your lawn. Sure you might if the leaves remain for a year or so, but this won't happen. First, during the winter months the "green' part of the grass plant is dead. Next, the soil food web will break down much of the leaf litter dropped by trees, especially if we have snow cover. It has been reported that there is more decay of leaves in the area just below the snow as it remains above freezing and there is a lot of microbial activity. Second, even if we don't have snow cover, I won't leave you hanging next spring and will be advising you to mow over and mulch up those leaves that have not decayed or been taken into the soil by earthworms.

There are good reasons to let whatever falls from a tree remain. For one, this is how Nature helps feed the microbes that in turn feed your trees and shrubs. Remove these leaves and eventually you will negatively impact the health of your trees and shrubs unless you fertilize the trees. Why bother when Nature does the work for you?

In addition, your lawn will do much better if you not only leave the grass clippings as you mow, but if you let the leaves that fall do their thing. Lawns like soils that are partially fungal-dominated, and the grass clippings don't provide the right food for fungi. Leaves do.

And finally, it is way too much work to collect all the leaves on your property as my dad (and probably yours, too, did). Sure, collect a couple of yards for the compost pile and a few bags to use as brown mulch next spring and summer, but consider how many tons of leaves you have to deal with on a normal lot. Raking is just too much work.

Worse, when leaves go into the landfill, they often end up buried in anaerobic conditions where they sit for years and years. I don't know about you, but I don't want my taxes going to building a new landfill because we filled the existing one with yard wastes.

I will go one step further. Last year, due to Outside speaking engagements, I was not able to even mulch over our property's fallen leaves with the mower. (This does help them decay faster by opening them up to bacteria which would normally have to wait for fungi to decay some of the lignin so the bacteria can get to the cellulose in the leaves). When the snow finally melted this spring, there were no leaves on the lawn other than directly underneath trees and shrubs (where grass shouldn't be allowed to grow anyhow).

There may be even one more reason not to rake. A recent study showed that letting maple and oak leaves remain on a lawn during the winter months resulted in up to 85 percent fewer dandelions the next spring. Does this work with birch and cottonwood leaves? Find out next spring.

Don't rake.