This is the time of year when many neighbors in the Tualatin River Watershed are greeted with beautiful fall colors in the trees—and then find their yards covered by fallen leaves.
Many homeowners spend time and money collecting and disposing of their leaves, but the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a Tree for All partner, has another suggestion: leave the leaves.
By leaving the leaves that fall into your yard, you:
add natural fertilizer to your soil;
help to fight erosion; and
create important habitat for pollinators and other invertebrates.
When you resist the urge to blow, mow and rake away your leaves, you’re aiding in the survival of moths, bumble bees, butterflies, snails, spiders, and lots of other arthropods. You don’t need to leave all the leaves—this isn’t to smother your lawn—but keeping some in a pile at the back of a flower border or along the base of a hedge will provide valuable shelter for all manner of small critters.
Even organic gardeners, who sometimes choose to shred their leaves for use as compost, can do more to protect the pollinators. The Xerces Society recommends that leaves in garden beds and lawn edges be left whole. While shredding does help the leaves break down faster, shredded leaves don’t provide the same cover, and the shredding process can destroy eggs, caterpillars and chrysalis.
You can learn more about the benefits of leaving your leaves for the critters that rely on them on the Xerces Society’s website.
