How do you dry out leaves that don't normally dry naturally?

Do I need to rake my leaves? What happens if I dont?

• I live near Detroit Michigan. My husbands family was appalled that I didnt rake my leaves and wasnt planning on it. When I grew up in Indiana, we never raked our leaves. However, my inlaws say, our grass will die if we dont. Anyone from the Detroit area, (Ferndale) know if and when you can rake them into the street? So honestly, why do I need to rake the leaves?

• Answer:

  If you have a lot of large leaves they may shade the grass a bit, and make the yard look messy. That's really about it. Personally, I just do one last grass-cutting in November after pretty much all the leaves are down, and that breaks the leaves up so they can start rotting away faster and getting naturally recycled. I don't rake leaves on principle. As for raking them into the street - you might want to check with your local city hall to see how leaves get disposed of; some places prefer them in bags, some vacuum them up from the gutter. The danger with just putting them out in the street is that they'll wash down into, and clog up, the storm drains.