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My lawn has some pretty big bare batches in it (some of which are there because I pulled out huge swathes of weeds), so about 2 weeks ago I put down a bunch of grass seed, raked the seeds into the dirt, then covered them in grass clippings.

Since then, very little of the grass has come up. Here's one of the more promising patches:

Grass growing on my lawn

What has happened, though, is that the grass has started to get a bit long, and the leaves have started falling from the trees, and the leaves are starting to cover some of the bare patches:

Leaves covering a bare patch of grass on my lawn

I'm not exactly a lawn care expert, but my understanding is that I'm supposed to avoid disturbing the dirt while the grass is growing, but I assume that the grass won't grow very well if it's covered in leaves — can / should I rake the leaves away? Can / should I rake / mow the other parts of the lawn (which I overseeded while I was seeding the rest of the lawn)?

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  • It can take up to 3 weeks for grass seed to germinate. I assume you're keeping the seeded areas fairly damp?
    – DCookie
    Oct 16, 2020 at 15:52
  • Do you have a portable leaf blower? That might move the leaves off the seeded areas with minimal soil disturbance.
    – DCookie
    Oct 16, 2020 at 15:57
  • Yes, I have been making sure it stays damp with short and frequent waterings. I don't have a leaf blower, though it's been windy lately and that did help.
    – Paul
    Oct 16, 2020 at 16:07
  • I would think lightly raking with a lawn leaf rake would be okay.
    – DCookie
    Oct 16, 2020 at 16:26

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You should have raked the leaves before you put seed down. On the other hand if you're find with the leaves being litter or salvaged later........ Early Autumn is ideal time for aerartion anyway. You can seed and fill the holes simultaneously.

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  • The leaves were still on the trees when I put the seeds down. The question is whether it's worse for new grass to have leaves on top of the ground it's growing on or to be raked.
    – Paul
    Nov 6, 2020 at 12:35

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