Leave the Leaves!

As Greg Crews mentioned in last week’s article What Happened to Fall? he describes how and why leaves change their colors.

I’ve always wanted to write an article about leaving leaves. I’ve definitely hinted this in previous articles, but here we go. So this week I want to talk about the benefits of LEAVING leaves (#leavetheleaves). Here are some good reasons to leave your leaves where they fall:

• Leaves are free mulch
• Leaves help retain moisture in the soil.
• Leaves help regulate soil temperatures.
• Leaves break down and provide nutrients for your lawn and your trees; you can usually just mow your leaves into your grass.

• Leaves are a part of your tree’s nutrient cycle.
• Leaves on the forest floor provide a habitat for insects to live and overwinter, especially butterflies, beetles, bees, luna moths, etc.
• Leaves are used by animals for nesting and bedding material.

• Leaves are a great place for animals to hibernate or brumate for the winter.
• Not raking leaves can give you more time; instead of raking, you will have more time to ride your bike, take a walk, watch some birds or read a book.
• And last but not least walking on the leaves in the Fall just sounds good.

My wife was just talking to my grandson today and told him the leaves are going to be off of the trees soon and he said, “the leaves gonna stay on the water oak tree.”

Remember not all trees lose their leaves or needles at the same time, and some are persistent throughout the winter even after they change colors like the beech trees in the forest. Also remember kids pay attention to everything you say.

I hope you are having an amazing Fall!