CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - As your yard starts to fill up with leaves, lawn care is essential to keep your grass healthy. With the fall foliage and leaf pile-ups coming earlier than usual, it's important to keep your grass clear of leaves if you want it to survive through the winter. The weight of leaves on your lawn could kill the grass if left unattended. It can also affect the pH of your lawns as leaves deteriorate over time. Gary Courchesne with G&H Landscaping gave 22nNews a lawn care checklist to keep in mind during the fall. "We want to avoid heavy leaf accumulation on the turf," says Courchesne. "We want to keep up routine mowing as the lawns grow still and then be sure that when you mow you're not mowing more than 1/3 of the grass blade off at one time." You can use the leaves you rake to mulch other plants such as sunflowers and perennial plants. Every time you rake, the leaves just keep falling. But this one step can help your lawn last longer. Local News Headlines Center in Tower Square named after Springfield leader Lawmakers call for safer correctional facilities in MA Westfield police seek public’s help identifying woman Loophole Brewing closes Springfield taproom, plans future WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.