Twin Palm Landscape Care

09/13/2025

Little updating on a parking lot island

08/21/2025

Just saved a Baby Gator in a community swimming pool

06/28/2025

Added some plants inside the cage to make it feel more tropical

06/28/2025

lightning blew this clock apart in venice fl, face plate was 20 feet away

06/28/2025

Mama Gator letting me know she has a nest on the bank.

06/27/2025

Another day in the office. Lightning struck the mainline under this sidewalk and ofcourse it's at the base of a huge oak tree

12/22/2024

Quick last minute install for a customer to surprise his wife for the holidays

12/22/2024

Upgraded some landscape bulbs to color changing bulbs for the holidays

08/18/2024

Little mulching up some palmetto and pepper tree on a Saturday morning with our new Fecon mulching attachment, will complete the job next week and update photos

08/17/2024

Storm Debby did a number to this condo on Siesta Key. Not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon moving sand back to the beach

03/06/2024

OAK LEAVES DO NOT KILL ST AUGUSTINE LAWNS – OAK LEAVES ARE GOOD FOR THE LAWN



MYTH: OAK LEAVES ARE KILLING MY LAWN

This persistent myth is hard to debunk. Common scenario is that a home owner has a landscape with young oak trees. Years go by and the lawn looks great. Then as the tree matures and becomes 50’ tall the lawn develops random weak spots. These weak spots are caused by a thick mat of roots. These weak spots are natural gathering places for Oak Leaves. The homeowner sees leaves covering a bare spot in the lawn and assumes the leaves killed the lawn. But you can’t see the roots below ground, you only see the leaves. So leaves get blamed for killing the lawn.

Oak Tree Roots Mass near the Surface - not just at the trunk but randomly in your lawn causing random weak spots in the lawn.



Fallen Oak leaves have a rigid frame that retains the leaf shape long after it has fallen from the tree. Fallen Oak leaves are an empty hollow shell that can pulverized by a mulching mower. The pulverized pieces of Oak leaves fall into the turf canopy to be naturally recycled by composting - no bagging required.


BIOLOGY OF OAK LEAVES

A fallen Oak leaf retains its shape long after it has fallen from the tree because Oak leaves have a durable outer shell similar to a crab shell that does not quickly break down. It is a hollow empty shell of a leaf and has no negative impact on your lawn.

Of course if the leaves are several inches deep and remain on the lawn for weeks, then you could suffocate the lawn – but I have never seen that happen except where someone raked leaves into a pile. And when the pile of leaves was removed the lawn quickly recovered.

COMPOSTING OF OAK LEAVES IS BENEFICIAL – JUST ADD WATER

Two critical environmental conditions must exist to compost Oak leaves; A sufficient canopy height of the St Augustine lawn and water. Both conditions are quite easy to achieve – mow as high as the mower will go and water as often as law permits (even during cool weather). Do not be tempted to mow low to mulch more leaves – be satisfied they have fallen into the canopy. Trust me, the leaves will obey the law of gravity and continue to fall deeper into the canopy where biological forces will turn them into mush.

Once the Oak leaves are composted they become beneficial – not harmful – to your lawn. Below the lawn canopy, next to the soil is a very biologically active area of your lawn. It is an area of active composting. Leaves and all types of lawn debris – including dust, pollen and other pollutants - are being recycled into nutrients for the soil and plants. The Oak leaves feed the composting microbes with a steady supply of organic matter and minerals (mainly Carbon).



The Natural Processing of Oak Leaves - No Raking/Bagging Required: The natural organic method (and perhaps the easiest) for processing of Oak leaves in St Augustine lawns is to mow your lawn with a mulching mower. The mulching action shatters the oak leaves and allows them to fall into the turf canopy. Once inside the canopy, the oak leaves are composted by natural processes to provide nutrients, minerals and organic matter for soil microbes and the lawn.

09/07/2023