The ground everywhere you go now seems like it’s littered with leaves. However, we shouldn’t think of leaves as litter. They are a natural product that is beneficial in a lot of ways. Let’s talk about some of the benefits that leaves provide, and why leaving them is good for the environment.
In the fall most, people will get out their rakes and leaf blowers to remove the leaves from their yards. The end result is a yard that looks very tidy and neat, but also a yard that has removed a crucial element of the nutrient cycle and disrupted the life cycle of many beneficial insects. I would argue that there are some places where you should remove the leaves. Like your driveway or walkways because they can create a hazard. I have also raked a small portion of my yard because my daughter loves a good leaf pile, and I’m not going to keep that happiness from her. But in the rest of the yard and the surrounding woods it’s beneficial to leave those leaves in place.
Fallen leaves create organic matter for the soil. As the leaves break down they return the nutrients that they are holding back to the soil. This is an important part of the nutrient cycle. In the spring trees will withdraw nutrients from the ground and start to make those leaves. In the fall when the leaves drop, the leaves are still holding the nutrients. Each individual leaf may not have a lot of nutrients, but collectively their nutrient load is important. Allowing those leaves to return their nutrients to the soil completes the nutrient cycle. Leaving the leaves in plant beds around your house is a good thing for the plants. It will also help reduce weeds, since it serves as a mulch layer. A light layer of leaves over grass will benefit the grass too. On grass, if the leaves are too thick, it can damage the grass.
Another great benefit of leaving the leaves is that it helps beneficial insects. Lots of insects will lay their eggs in the leaves. Butterflies and moths will lay eggs in the leaves to emerge next year. Bumblebees, Luna moths, and swallowtail butterflies will over winter just under the soil line. A layer of leaf mulch protects these important pollinators.
Lots of animals rely on the leaves too. Turtles, toads, birds, salamanders, and small mammals use the leaves for food, shelter, and nesting material. All of these critters need a place to spend the winter.
If you have more leaves than you can handle consider putting the extra around trees, ornamental plants, and in garden beds as a natural mulch. It’s better to not shred the leaves as this will destroy any insects or eggs that are in the leaves.
Grass for lawns is the largest irrigated ‘crop’ in the US at over 40 million acres. That’s more than any other irrigated corn or soybean. If everyone made sure that their lawn was a welcome habitat for pollinators and other critters it would make a huge difference. If you have questions about your leaves, contact your County Extension Office or email me at Jacob.Williams@uga.edu.