This fall, leave the leaves on the lawn and flower beds. It’s better for wildlife – and our wallets.

by Kathy Sykes

It’s that time of year when we think we need to rake leaves and “clean up” the garden. But think again.

Contrary to popular belief, one of the best ways to help your garden and the environment is to leave the leaves. There are many reasons one should adopt this approach.

Leaves contain important nutrients and minerals including nitrogen, carbon, and potassium phosphorous. As fallen leaves decompose, they add these much-needed nutrients back to the soil. Therefore, fertilizer is not needed. The leaves left in your garden will also provide food and nutrients for micro-organisms that make soil healthier and help plants grow stronger.

Leaves create a natural mulch that suppresses weeds and benefits the soil by helping to retain water and improve air flow. Oak leaves even suppress the growth of an invasive plant, Japanese stiltgrass, that spreads aggressively on forest floors throughout New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. The leaves also store a great deal of carbon, contributing to making our planet more climate resilient.

Leave seedheads on their stalks. They’re winter food for birds such as this pine warbler.

Leaves are vital resources for wildlife. Leaf litter is not litter for insects such as bees and butterflies, and animals including salamanders, turtles and toads. All these creatures increase pollination and reduce pests in your garden, and for them, fallen leaves, branches, sticks and plant stalks provide much-needed winter food and shelter. In fact, leaf litter may be our planet’s largest butterfly nursery, as many caterpillars overwinter in fallen leaves and emerge in spring. The cocoons and chrysalises of swallowtail butterflies and luna moths even look like dried leaves. Also, queen bees that have mated burrow a couple inches in the ground, relying on layers of leaves to keep out the winter cold.

Dried stalks of bee balm become winter homes for insects.

Leaving the leaves saves money, time and the environment. Why spend money on mulch and fertilizer when the trees produce it for free? Plus, there is no need to rake and bag leaves that will be transported by motor vehicle to a landfill – adding more carbon to the atmosphere.

There is also no need to cut up the leaves. They will decompose on their own, and help your garden retain and filter water while holding topsoil in place during heavy rain. Leaves that have been cut up do not offer that protection. Moreover, shredding leaves could destroy eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis living in the leaves.

And there is no need to use leaf blowers. Even the electric ones pose threats to soil, wildlife and human health, and should be avoided.

If you feel you have too many leaves in your yard or garden, share leaves with your neighbors, friends, schools, gardens, or others.

And remember: Doing less fall cleanup is more beneficial for the environment, our threatened insects, birds, animals – and ultimately, ourselves.