Leave The Leaves
Fall is upon us and all we can think of is how to prepare our yard for winter. Thinking about all the things we have to do is exhausting and we haven’t even started yet. We have to rake all the leaves, chop down all the expired plants, put down fertilizer and weed control, the list goes on and on. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. What if I told you by eliminating two items on our list we can pretty much take care of our list in one fell swoop. Just as people are starting to realize the grass isn’t the ideal place for nature to thrive it’s becoming more popular, in certain circles, to learn that the traditional fall clean up actually creates a barren landscape as well. Fall clean up makes it hard for wildlife to overwinter.
What if, instead of removing leaves and plant debris this year we leave the leaves? When we stop raking and using our leaf blowers we’re actually checking off a couple items on our to-do list. Did you know that leaving the leaves actually helps in many different ways? Don’t believe me? Let me list some of the benefits for you: natural mulch layer, added nutrients through decomposition, suppress weeds, create insulation, overwinter habitats for insects, food and nesting materials for birds and other small mammals and helps with climate change. That means that we’re checking off raking the leaves, chopping down expired plants,fertilizing the yard and weed control. That’s practically our whole list and we haven’t even done anything yet. Not only are we checking off unnecessary items on our to-do list, we’re adding a pretty impressive list of things that we’re doing as well. Who knew doing nothing could be so beneficial?
If cleaning up leaves is so bad for the environment and nature why are we doing it to begin with? When lawn care started becoming popular in the 1700 and 1800’s lawn care was a symbol of wealth and success as they were expensive and labor intensive to care for. In addition there was simply less people and the actions taken at the time didn’t feel like it would make a big impact on anything. The earth felt so big it would be impossible to cause irreversible damage. On top of that they didn’t have the technology, science, and foresight of the population growth to realize that their actions might have major repercussions down the road. By the time it was realized how bad some of our habits were the status symbol of a well-manicured lawn was so ingrained it began to (does) feel impossible to change.
One of my favorite quotes lately is: Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. –Maya Angelou
This is where our opportunity to know better comes in. When we leave leaf litter where it lands instead of hauling it off somewhere we allow it to accumulate on the ground creating a mulch layer. This layer helps hold moisture in the ground. As the leaf litter starts to decompose it also releases stored nutrients into the ground which will then be absorbed by the plants that will grow in the next season. The mulch that’s created helps to suppress weed growth just as any commercial mulch would. It also helps insulate tender plants so they can have a better chance of surviving the winter. The leaf litter also provides perfect habitat for many organisms. Some of the things you might find living and overwintering in the leaf litter are: worms, snails, spiders, moths, butterflies, bees, snakes, salamanders, toads and fungi. With all of this wonderful life existing in the leaf litter it will also help birds find food and be more likely to survive the winter. There will always be some birds that stay instead of migrating south. These birds have to survive the same way other animals survive the winter which often includes eating high fat and extra food.
I hear you, you want to leave your leaves but you have city ordinances, HOA’s, neighbors with old fashion thinking, what are you supposed to do? Luckily there are many compromises that can attempt to give us the best of both worlds. First though, you should always clear leaf litter from paved surfaces. Paved surfaces do not expose the leaves to the soil below so many of the organisms won’t have access to the leaf litter to start the decomposition process. It will also still hold the moisture in which means that the leaf litter will become a slippery slimy mess. It can also contribute to nutrient pollution in our waterways. (This will be another post for another time.) So, make sure you always remove organic matter from paved surfaces. If you do have to remove the leaf litter you have a couple of options. If possible designate an area in your yard, such as a garden bed, under trees and around shrubs to move the leaf litter to. Make sure you try to be as gentle as possible so you don’t disrupt any chrysalis or other insects that may already have started their winter journey. If that isn’t possible try starting a compost bin and add the leaf litter to the compost bin. If you don’t have a compost bin, but are committed to the process, reach out to a friend or neighbor to see if they can take your leaf litter. If none of those options are feasible to you we aren’t out of hope yet. You can mow your leaves. This allows things to breakdown significantly faster so it won’t look as bad to those that think it’s a bad idea. Keep in mind that this will destroy some of the organisms that are trying to survive overwinter but it will still allow some organisms to survive the winter. Lastly, if none of these options work for you, you can also reach out to your city to see if they have a composting program. Once spring comes if your leaf litter and other plant debris are not decomposed enough for you, you can clean it up at this time. However you will want to wait until temperatures have been above 50 degrees for about a week. You might find that more of the leaves are gone than you expected. If you have leaf litter on your grass and you plan on keeping your grass, you’ll definitely want to clean that up.
Now, having learned all of this, remember something is better than nothing. Please do not be consumed by guilt or pressure to act perfectly. If you find yourself with this new knowledge but don’t immediately have a way to implement it or you found it too late, remember you may not be able to do something this year but next year you might. Or you can always share your new found knowledge with someone else and that will definitely leave the world in a better place than it was when we first started this.
Much love, stay positive! Until next time <3
Extra Read Links:
Birds Coping With Winter - https://www.audubon.org/how-do-birds-cope-cold-winter