A Healthy Planet Makes for Healthy People – Fall Leaves

Submitted by Climate Change Action Dufferin-Caledon

Fall is a wonderful season in Dufferin County. The air is crisp and cold, and the leaves on the trees are brilliant with colour. Most of us appreciate the leaves when they’re on the trees and then sigh while going to get the rake after they fall off. It seems like the majority of homeowners still rake every last leaf from under their trees, bag them, and then drag them to the curb where the municipal garbage system picks them up and hauls them away. While this may make your lawn look neat and tidy, there are a few problems with this system.

The first is that trees and plants take the nutrients and minerals they need to grow from the soil. In the forest, the leaves fall to the ground and are composted, returning their nutrients to the soil for the trees and understory plants to use again and again. This is recycling at its best. Since trees and plants also capture carbon from the atmosphere, they do us one better than just recycling. They actually increase the amount of organic matter in the soil over time.

When we haul our leaves away, those nutrients are lost to the soil forever. In order for plants to grow the next year, they have to draw more nutrients from the soil. This degrades and uses up the humus (decomposed organic matter) present in the soil. Not only does humus hold nutrients in the soil, but it also helps to hold water in it as well. Over time, this process of removing nutrients leads to impoverished, dry soil and nutrient deficiencies for plants that grow in it. A lot of gardeners solve these problems with fertilizer and watering, but these solutions come with their own problems. For example, droughts stress municipal water supplies, prompting watering bans for lawns and gardens. Fertilizer run-off causes pollution of our waterways and lakes, leading to the growth of toxic algal blooms. The western part of Lake Erie experienced just such a problem earlier this year. While the amount of fertilizer runoff from home gardening does not compare to the amounts produced by industrial agriculture, it sure doesn’t help to be part of the problem!

Another concern with removing the leaves is the energy our society needs to expend to do it. In a world where we face a critical need to reduce our fossil fuel use, it makes no sense to truck our leaves around. As taxpayers, we also use municipal funds to pay for this service. These are funds that could be directed to other projects.

So what are some better alternatives to dealing with those “messy” leaves? How can we improve the health of our soil and by extension, our lawns, gardens, trees, and ourselves by using our leaves? Here are a few ideas:

Rake your leaves onto your gardens instead of buying mulch. Why pay for mulch when trees provide it for free? If you feel you have too many leaves for that, you can rake them into rows and then run them over with a mulching lawnmower before spreading them on your gardens. This reduces their volume considerably and will help to break them down into the soil faster. Leaf mulch does tend to blow away in windstorms so be sure to spread some compost, straw or other plant material on top of your leaves if you have a problem with this. I find this is less of a problem if you leave plant stems long through the winter rather than cutting them back. The dead plant stems tend to catch and hold the leaves in place. Dead plant stems also provide places for beneficial insects to overwinter in your garden. In the spring you can check under your leaf much and move the leaves off the emerging plants if you need to. I find the majority of my spring bulbs and perennials come up through the leaves with very little help from me. Leaf mulch breaks down over time, adding humus to your garden soil and feeding your plants. It also helps hold water in the soil, making watering less frequent, or in well-managed and sustainable gardens, unnecessary.

Run over your leaves with a mulching lawnmower and rake them evenly over the grass.  They will start to break down over the winter and by the time you are mowing your lawn next spring, you won’t be able to see them.

Put them in your composter. Good compost needs 30 parts “brown” material for every part of “green” material. Leaves make good “brown” material for compost!

Use them in sheet mulching to start a new garden. There are lots of references online for how to make a good sheet mulch garden bed. The basic idea is to lay brown cardboard (without plastic tape/stickers on it) on the ground to kill the plants underneath it without disturbing the soil. Then, you start piling layers of organic matter on top that will decompose into nutrients to feed your garden. Top it off with a layer of soil or compost and you have a new garden bed. As the cardboard and organic matter decompose, the roots of the plants you put in your garden will eventually grow down into the soil underneath. Leaves are a fantastic addition to a sheet-mulched garden.

After all that, do you still have too many leaves? Pile your leaves up in a corner of your property and let them compost naturally. Turn your pile now and then and eventually you can spread the rich dirt they’ll become on your trees, lawn or gardens or mix it into containers for planting.

If you can start seeing your leaves as a valuable gift your trees give, rather than as a fall chore, you’ll be happy with the results!

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