This year marks my second fall in Alabama, which means it’s my second time experiencing an actual fall season. After living in Arizona for so long, the cool air and colorful leaves are such a treat! But, experiencing a new season does raise some questions – mainly – what to do with leaves in my yard? We have a ton of trees surrounding our yard, and that leaf pile is massive; there has to be something useful I can do with fall leaves, right? After some research, here’s what I found –
Fall Leaves Can Support Insect Life
Apparently, there are a lot of benefits of fallen leaves. Leaving leaves on the ground encourages biodiversity, which supports a healthy environment and will help your garden in the spring. Insects like fireflies, spiders, and luna moths need leaves for food and shelter. Now, I am not a fan of spiders, but I do recognize that they are essential to our ecosystem.
Pollinators such as moths and butterflies use leaf litter as a place to overwinter and protect from the cold winter air. Removing the leaves could destroy their cocoons or remove their habitat altogether. In addition to pollinators, beneficial insects like ladybugs and ground beetles thrive in fallen leaves and we need those insects to help control garden pests.
Leaves Enhance Soil Health
One of my favorite sites to get garden information from is Growing a Greener World – check them out, they have SO much information! Well, they say that allowing leaves to decompose naturally plays an important role in creating rich soil. Basically, as the leaves break down during, they create a layer of organic matter that gives the plants in your garden the nutrients they need to grow. Leaves left on the ground act like a slow-release fertilizer and provide nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium to the soil, promoting better water retention.
Leaves in the yard also provide food and habitat for earthworms, fungi, and microorganisms. These creatures are essential for breaking down organic matter and recycling nutrients into the soil. Did you know that earthworms create tunnels that aerate the soil and allow plant roots to grow more easily? That’s a pretty important job! Letting leaves decompose naturally plays a crucial role in that process.
Fall Leaves Provide Shelter and Food for Wildlife
It’s not just the insects that benefit from the fall leaves in the yard – birds, squirrels, and even frogs use them for shelter and insulation during the colder months since the leaf layer provides warmth and protection from predators. Leaving the leaves on the ground helps create a mini-habitat that supports these creatures who otherwise may have trouble surviving the winter.
Something I love about Alabama is the colorful birds I see hanging out in the trees in my backyard. Beautiful robins and wrens flutter from branch to branch, and it’s so fun to watch. Those birds can find food in the leaf piles, which is important during the winter when food is scarce. If putting away the rake and not having to clean up fallen leaves helps my bird friends, I guess I can do my part.
Not Raking Leaves Can Reduce Waste
Last year, I was surprised to see how leaf collection worked in my town. There’s a huge vacuum truck that goes around town and sucks up the leaves that residents hauled out to the curbs in front of their homes. It’s a pretty nice service to offer since there are roughly 100,000,000 trees in this town that shed their leaves! (I’m only slightly exaggerating…)
In many places, the fall leaves that get raked and bagged go straight to the already overcrowded landfills. So, leaving the leaves in your own yard will reduce the amount of yard waste sent to the landfill and the amount of garbage bags used to bag them up. By choosing to leave the leaves, you’re saving time and effort and reducing your environmental footprint.
So, What Do We Do With Leaves in the yard?
It turns out there is still some yard work to do. If your yard looks like mine does in the fall, the pile of leaves is thick, and that’s not good either. Too many leaves can actually harm your lawn! One way to prevent that is to create a thin layer of leaves and use your lawn mower to cut them up. The thin layer will allow the fall leaves to break down more quickly. You can also shred some of your leaves and throw them in garden beds and around trees to serve as wildlife habitats while keeping other areas of your yard clear. If you have a composting pile, fall leaves are an excellent addition since they provide carbon and balance out nitrogen-rich materials like food scraps.
Enjoy The Fall Season!
Now that you’ve learned about the benefits of fall leaves and that your yard work duties will be much easier – get out there and enjoy the fall season! The weather is beautiful, there are tons of fun activities to do with your family, and doing minimal work with the leaves in your yard contributes to a more sustainable and balanced environment.
