11/06/2025
An Autumn Suggestion from Mound View Garden Club’s EcoGardening Committee
In Autumn, leave the leaves. Letting leaves lie where they fall in your own yard and gardens is beneficial to creatures that might be hunkered down for the winter ahead (firefly larva, wooly bear caterpillars, luna moth cocoons for example). Native ground nesting bees are safer with a leaf layer above them. Ground foraging birds root through this leafy layer in search of food like insects, seeds and nuts.
Let’s consider why leaves matter. Via the process of photosynthesis, they produce energy in the form of glucose, and they also release oxygen. In other words, they sustain life on earth and, once they have fallen from the tree, they are a gift that keeps on giving: a) by recycling nutrients as they break down (such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and returning these back into the soil; b) by creating habitat for microbes (that help decompose the leaf litter), as well as many insects, birds and small mammals that rely on leaves for food and shelter; and lastly, c) by forming a protective ground layer providing such ecosystem services as reducing soil erosion and increasing water retention, insulating the soil, providing temperature control for ground dwelling creatures, and improving water quality by trapping pollution (like sediments and synthetic nutrients) before they flow into streams.
If leaving your leaves where they fall is not an option in your neighborhood or community, or if you prefer a tidier yard, you can still keep things neat AND reap the benefits of fallen leaves, by moving them under your larger trees (mimicking the forest), or into a dedicated compost pile or garden bed. Moving leaves with a rake is the most sustainable method, as leaf blowers create high decibel, disruptive noise pollution. The carbon emissions from gas powered blowers can be higher than that of a pick-up
truck. An electric blower, if you must use one, is a better choice than gas.
Although the term “leaf litter” was used above, keep in mind that leaves themselves are not litter. They are food and shelter for such pollinators as butterflies, beetles, bees, moths and more. They provide shelter and food for small animals, and forage for birds. Leaves are nourishment for the earth.
If you wish to inform friends and neighbors about overwintering choices for your yard, there are some beautiful, free, printable signs on-line with the “Leave the Leaves” message. Search the websites of Xerces Society or Our Habitat Garden, to name a few. This year, try leaving your leaves.
