If you’ve been following along with me for very long, you’ve probably heard me talk about fall and how you maintain your garden REALLY matters. Some traditional things you should skip if you love nature and want to make the biggest positive impact.
The first is raking your leaves. Leaves really are GOLD! They offer so many amazing things and could sell for millions of dollars. They break down and add fabulous nutrients to the soil. They house and protect, and give homes to many, many critters, including firefly larvae, some moth or butterfly chrysalids or cocoons, salamanders, frogs, and many more. Many caterpillars overwinter in fallen leaves.
Imagine a moth caterpillar munching on oak leaves high in the forest canopy. Fall arrives just as they are getting to their last instar/stage of their caterpillar life. Know what they do? They shed their skin one more time and make their cocoon, often using a leaf as part of this. Maybe they are 10 feet off the ground, maybe 40. Either way, they are nestled there in the leaf of the tree, and then, as happens every fall, the leaves turn colors, the tree shuts them off from nutrients and eventually, the leaves go sailing one by one to the ground, where they lie. That cocoon attached to the leaf? It too falls to the ground, hidden among other leaves.
When a well-meaning homeowner sees the leaves on the ground, making bigger and bigger piles, they often feel the need to rake up the leaves and “clean up” the yard. But when this happens, many, many creatures, including all of those moths or butterflies in waiting, will die. All of the firefly larvae living in the leaves will die. Millidpedes will lose their homes. And on and on.
The better thing to do rather than rake up and haul away all of this “gold” is to simply LEAVE THE LEAVES! Leave them where they fall! Or if that’s not possible, gather them up and put them around your trees or in a “wild” space where all of the creatures using the leaves will be able to keep on using the leaves, and keep on living. Don’t grate them up into millions of pieces! Don’t pack them into garbage bags!
The second thing to keep in mind is that there is no reason to chop off all of your perennials in an attempt to “clean up” your yard for winter. Many of these plants provide food for migrating or overwintering birds. The stalks might provide habitat to small insects like bees. Just leave your plants standing for the winter! They will provide a visual interest to you, and lots of value to the wildlife that share your outdoor spaces.
This fall perhaps you’ll consider all of the creatures who need the leaves before raking them and hauling them away, or before cutting all of your plants to the ground. We need to change the way we manage our yards. We need to start thinking about other creatures before ourselves, and start making decisions that benefit the other earthlings who share our planet with us.
Thanks for reading! And happy fall!