I'm sorry, I just can't get "in" to it. I'll never understand this need to rid our entire lawns of every single leaf. It's as if we have a personal vendetta against these leaves like they insulted our mother or something. Or maybe, it's like we're Michael and the leaves are Captain McCluskey..."It's not personal. It's strictly business." Somehow we got into, and support, the "business" of removing valuable resources from our own property.
Leaf "litter" is like manna from heaven for wildlife. Too many aphids eating away the garden you worked so hard for? Ladybugs need leaf litter to overwinter. Where have all the fireflies gone? They were thrown away with all the Home Depot bags left on the side of the road. Short on Salamanders? Their homes were swept away with the rake.
It seems pretty obvious that most Americans think that the best course of action when it comes to their yards is to cut down as many trees as possible, plant a few exotic trees and shrubs, cover that small area in bark mulch and then make sure there is grass as far as the eye can see. Of course, once that grass starts growing you better make sure you use as many chemicals as possible to make sure nothing else but grass can live in that space. Never mind the carcinogens that poison our children, pets, wildlife and drinking water. As long as the lawn looks great, and our neighbors don't give us funny looks!
So, what do we do with our leaves instead of raking them up and throwing them away? Personally, I advocate the "lazy gardener" method of creating compost with your leaves (piling them up in an inconspicuous area of your yard and covering them for two years). But, if you really can't bring yourself to such "extremes" and can't handle the funny looks from your neighbors you may or may not get then mulching leaves in place is your next best-bet. Don't take my word for it...you can read about it from the big-chemical experts here. Just run over the leaves with the lawn mower once or twice and nature will take care of itself.
We're throwing away our natural resources and time when we bag up leaves. We're poisoning our neighbors, children and pets when we use chemicals on our lawns. We're making it more expensive for future generations to clean our drinking water when we rake rather than mulch.
The North Andover Wildlife Team encourages everyone to research this topic and to compost their leaves and kitchen waste throughout the year! It's fun, saves you money and it's a great thing for kids to do and learn about.
Picture from GardenRant.com
