Happy fall! I know it’s officially not quite here yet, but some changes are already happening. Monarchs are moving south. Birds are beginning their migration. Some leaves are just starting to turn.
If you enjoy watching birds and butterflies, and want to be part of the solution rather than the problem, here are two easy ways to put nature first this fall:
LEAVE YOUR LEAVES!
Please can we all just agree to leave our leaves where they fall? Let’s normalize letting nature have what nature created. Fallen leaves are truly GOLD! Besides returning valuable nutrients back into the soil, and returning them to the trees that made them, fallen leaves are also home to MANY small critters. Do you love songbirds like robins, bluebirds and cardinals? Want to help them succeed? Then leaving your leaves is essential! Because 96% of our songbirds REQUIRE caterpillars and other insects when they are raising babies each spring and summer.
Many, many, many caterpillars overwinter in leaves! We need to leave the leaves where they fall.
During my blue ghost firefly tours, some people ask me why we don’t see as many fireflies as “when we were kids.” There are a lot of reasons for this but one of the major ones is because humans have become obsessed with a perfect square of green grass instead of habitat that gives back to wildlife. Drive around any neighborhood, anywhere in the US in fall and you will find many many many people working against Mother Nature to “clean up” their leaves and create a perfect green square. This perfect green space gives back NOTHING TO NATURE! It’s done only because humans have decided it “looks nice.”
Let’s be smarter, kinder, more compassionate humans and give back to nature instead of always taking.
Firefly larvae/babies live in fallen leaves!! So when humans rake them all up and haul them away, or chop them into millions of tiny pieces and call them mulch, we are ENDING the lives of firefly larvae and many other critters who need those leaves.
Will you join me in leaving your leaves on the ground this fall, and telling your neighbors, family, and friends, how valuable this resource is to wildlife? We MUST stop our obsession with cleaning up every outdoor space!
LEAVE YOUR STEMS!
Also on the page of “cleaning up,” many people cut down all the flowers and plants in their garden to “get ready for fall.” But why?? There is no need to cut the stems of all your garden flowers! Many animals use them, including goldfinches, and other birds, who might feed on the seeds. Bees may nest in the hollow stems, and many small animals take shelter in the spent seed heads. Just save yourself some work, and leave the stems!
We need to stop with our obsession to “clean up” every single outdoor space in our yards!
Imagine how you can spend your time now instead of wasting hours raking, leaf blowing, or cutting all of your flowers to the ground and hauling them off. Invite some friends over! Read a book. Watch a movie. Go kayaking. Have a picnic. Invite friends over and sit together for a drink. Take a drive. Take a hike… please help me spread the word that fallen leaves are GOLD, not something to be called litter and hauled off to the dump.