Every fall, homeowners spend countless hours swinging leaf blowers and raking up leaves into trash bags, then run out and buy fertilizer to feed their soil.
Yet by letting fallen leaves lie, the ground will be better nourished. For free.
Leaf litter is a gift from nature. “Don’t throw it away!” says Erik Knutzen, an urban homesteading expert in Los Angeles. Fallen leaves act as both mulch and compost, building soil, providing shelter for beneficial insects, reducing water use by blocking evaporation, halting weed growth and inhibiting soil erosion. “Pile leaves up in your vegetable beds, around your trees, even in your potted plants’” he adds. Got excess? Bag and save it for spring.
Nutrients in fallen leaves are released when insects, fungi and microbes break down this “dead” material into fresh organic matter that supports new plant growth.
Warning: Black walnut and eucalyptus leaves aren’t good mulch candidates, Knutzen says. They’re considered “allelopathic,” meaning they produce their own herbicides to discourage other plants from growing beneath them. You can find plants tolerant of their herbicides.
Another resource rescue tactic: Mulch grass and plant clippings. The resulting thatch helps retain soil moisture and feed beneficial microorganisms.
Think of all the plastic bags, fertilizer and money that could be saved.
If aesthetics or neighbors compel you to tidy up, Knutzen has a solution: Run the leaves through a leaf vacuum, chop them up a bit, then reapply them. It will have the look of finished mulch.
“Our neighbors carefully sweep up every last leaf in their backyards,” Knutzen says. “We don’t, and the funny thing is that we have the healthiest garden. Since we started treating our backyard as a forest, we have a lot more visitors — birds, lizards, ladybugs and butterflies.” All better company than a rake.
Nurture the nutrient cycle
» By removing leaves and lawn clippings, people discard natural nutrients. Then they douse lawn and garden soil with fertilizer. The soil cannot store the sudden load of nutrients, and the plants can’t use them fast enough, so they leach away — adding to pollution of waterways and wetlands.
» Gardeners can restore the natural nutrient cycle in their backyard ecosystems. Fallen leaves, lawn clippings and other organic matter can be left in place. For a tidier look, leaves can be chopped with a mower or shredder and applied in flowerbeds and around shrubs as a natural mulch.
» Excess leaves and garden trimmings can be added to a compost pile with kitchen scraps, eventually decomposing into compost rich in humus — nature’s soil conditioner and slow-release plant food.
Source: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Leaf litter-acy
» homegrownevolution.com (sustainable living blog)
» cityfarmer.org
» “The Urban Homestead” by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen
Robin Tierney is a freelancer who writes about health and environment issues. She can be reached at [email protected].
