Leave the leaves

Don’t bag your fall leaves—reuse them! They enrich soil, protect wildlife, and make free mulch, compost, and fertilizer for your yard

Every autumn nature blesses us with a wonderful gift: leaves falling from deciduous trees and shrubs. For generations, homeowners viewed this gift as an eyesore rather than a valuable (and free!) resource for the garden. We’ve also overlooked the contribution that fallen leaves make to backyard habitat. Instead of raking and bagging autumn leaves for disposal, why not put them to good use in the landscape?

Boost your backyard wildlife habitat

Piling whole (uncut) leaves in garden beds is a great way to support wildlife. Many species rely on leaf matter for protection against the winter elements. Box turtles and many species of lizards, frogs, toads and salamanders spend their winters beneath fallen leaves. Some of these, such as box turtles, may burrow deeper as winter progresses. Others stay close to the surface, relying on leaves for shelter and camouflage.

Insects and other invertebrates also overwinter beneath leaf material as eggs, larvae, pupae or adults. Hairstreak butterflies lay their eggs on oak leaves that fall to the ground in autumn. Come spring, the eggs hatch and emerging caterpillars nibble on the leaf tissue until moving to other foods. The pupae of luna moths and swallowtail butterflies mimic the fallen leaves where the spend the winter, lying concealed and protected until spring. Bumblebees also rely on leaf debris to protect their winter burrows.

Leaf matter not only benefits critters, but also the birds, reptiles and amphibians that rely on them for food.

Turn leaves into fertilizer

You wouldn’t throw a full bottle of fertilizer in the garbage, so why send your leaves to a landfill? Autumn leaves have nutrients stored in their tissues that can be returned to the garden. Fallen leaves also protect against erosion, help retain soil moisture and provide a cooling effect in summer. A simple way to use fallen leaves is to rake them into garden beds. They will serve as winter mulch (and habitat!) as they break down, adding to the humus layer. You can also till leaves into vegetable beds in the fall. As they break down, they add nutrients to the soil while improving drainage and structure.

Composting leaves is another great option. Add leaves to your compost pile and mix in some green material, such as kitchen vegetable scraps, grass clippings or green garden cuttings. Add a couple shovels of soil, which introduces the microorganisms that will decompose plant materials, then give the pile a turn and a little water. Try to maintain an even mixture of green and brown (e.g. dead leaves) material in your compost pile. Over time, the leaves and other plant material will break down into a rich source of organic matter.

Of course, you can also use fallen leaves right where they fall on the lawn. You don’t want them to suffocate the grass, so they will need to be chopped into smaller pieces. A mulching mower will do the trick. A healthy lawn, mowed to a winter height of 2 to 3 inches, can take several inches of shredded leaf litter with no undesirable effects. In fact, the leaf litter will decompose quickly, adding nutrients and organic matter back into the soil.

When you get the itch to tidy up the yard this fall, consider these alternatives to sending your leaves off to the landfill.