Leave The Leaves This Fall [Week 30]
There’s a reason we also call autumn “fall”. All those leaves from the deciduous trees have decided the days are getting short and they are done working for the season. You should take a break too. Leave the leaves! Or at least some of them.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I may earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link or picture and finalize a purchase. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I will always tell you my true opinion of the products I’ve used. Thanks for supporting the site.
Amanda Drews
Why is it eco-friendly to leave leaves on your lawn?
Many animals overwinter in the fall leaves, including some of our important pollinators. Some animals may also lay their eggs on specific leaves ensuring their young will have food come spring according to the Xerces Society.
These animals all benefit from leaving leaves alone in the fall:
- Great spangled fritillary
- Wooly bear caterpillars
- Red-banded hairstreaks
- Luna Moths
- Swallowtail butterflies
- Bumble bees
Leaves can act as an important insulator for new plants. Think of all the time, energy and money you’ve spent on all your plantings . How disappointing is it when you plants don’t survive a cold winter? Leaving leaves helps trap air to insulate those plants so they can make it until spring.
Why is it beneficial to remove leaves from your lawn?
Raking up some of those leaves is important if your yard is mostly grass. Leaving them can limit the sunshine your grass gets once spring comes around and wet leaves can create conditions for fungus and snow mold diseases (GreenPal). Even though your lawn is dormant in the winter and leaves shouldn’t harm it, it is just easier to blow, rake or mulch dry fall leaves instead of wet spring leaves.
Are there any types of leaves that absolutely should be bagged up?
According to Gardeners.com, walnut, eucalyptus and camphor laurel should not be left on your lawn. They can contain chemicals, such as juglone in the Black Walnut Tree (according to the University of Iowa), that will inhibit other plants from growing.
So should you remove your leaves, mulch or leave them?
There’s arguments for and against each way.
The University of Minnesota recommends leaving no more than 10-20% of your lawn covered in leaves. For the rest, one choice is to bag or compost them but their preferred method is to mulch the remaining leaves. Breaking those leaves up into small pieces will return some nutrients, such as carbon, back to your soil.
Here are some different types of mulchers available:
This study out of Michigan State University found that mulching species of Maple leaves could have some effect on inhibiting dandelion growth if they were previously treated in a lawn. So hooray for not having to use more herbicides to get rid of dandelions!
Xerces Society recommends not mulching because of the danger it presents for those little critters and their eggs using the leaves over the winter. You work so hard the rest of the year trying to attract and protect pollinators, don’t quit on them now!
Try making Leaf Mold. Gardeners.com recommends putting shredding leaves into a pile for a few years and letting fungus turn your leaves into a calcium and magnesium rich compost that has high water retention.
Overall, you will have to make some decisions based on your yard, the types of plants and animals around your home and your personal preferences when it comes to deciding whether to mulch, remove, or leave your leaves.
- Decide what’s most important to you this fall when it comes to leaf clean-up. Maybe you have a big outdoor party coming up and would like it to look cleaned up. Maybe you mulch a bit to get some nutrients back into your lawn. Or maybe you decide this is the pollinators year to have the leaves.
- Check out some ways to make your dog’s life a little greener in Week 31.
