Leave Your Leaves

Leave Your Leaves

3 Reasons You Can Feel Good Putting Down the Rake

We've got good news for you! You don't have to rake those beautiful (but sometimes dreaded) leaves that are starting to fall! Each year, we break out the rake, but fallen leaves are actually part of nature's grand plan to keep our ecosystem healthy.

Here are a few of the ways:
1. Leaves provide cozy hibernation areas for several beneficial insects, such as the beloved ladybug (who eats all the pesky aphids) and spiders, as well as pollinating insects, such as bees, butterflies, and moths, who overwinter nestled in between these colourful blankets. Did you know the entire bumblebee colony dies off before winter and it's up to the queen to make it through winter? (Talk about pressure pressure!) She looks for a nice warm, safe place to settle in and if she makes it through to spring, she will lay eggs and create a new bumblebee colony.

2. Decomposing leaves release all their stored nutrients back into your grass & soil, which benefits the neighbouring trees & shrubs. It adds moisture, too, which comes in handy during the drier months. Worms also come up for leaf fragments and drag them down as yummy snacks. The combination of added nutrients and increased worm activity makes for some very healthy soil!

3. By increasing insect habitat, bird populations are supported. Many bird species reappear in spring, and are looking for some sustenance. They would be so grateful to find a field of food emerging, just as their tummies are really rumbling. It also gives you the benefit of your own nature channel, right outside your window!

One caveat is leaves with fungal infections. These present as dark spots and if they are left, they may reintroduce those fungal spores into your lawn, trees, and shrubs. Any leaves with these dark spots need to be raked up & disposed of - not put into compost.

And if you have too many leaves and want to leave just a couple light layers, or if you just can't leave your leaves, toss 'em in your garden bed for nourishment or around the base of trees to help protect them during cold snaps. Alternatively, you can always bag 'em up and leave them out for your municipality's yard waste collection, where they will go to help create more soil.

Some may call the act of not raking "lazy", but Nature Conservancy Canada calls it, "a small act of backyard conservation". So now you can feel good just kickin' back & enjoying watching the leaves fall, knowing you're doing your part.🍂 😊