Katie Deutsch
‘Leave the Leaves’ is a slogan that environmental scientists have been spreading for years. In some ways, it seems strange; removing fallen leaves in the autumn is a fairly normal and common process across the UK. It’s a natural part of keeping your garden looking neat throughout the winter months. There is nothing so simple, yet so important, that the average person can do for the environment. If you have a garden, leaving the leaves can help the environment in many important ways, as well as save you money.
“THESE BUGS WON’T SURVIVE THROUGH WINTER WITHOUT LEAF LITTER TO KEEP THEM SAFE”
Why are leaves so important? Critters!
Firstly, a wonderful reason to leave your leaves alone is for all the bugs that live in leaves. Many bugs rely on leaf litter for their protection over winter: gnats, spiders, moths, butterflies, bees, springtails, and more. While not all these bugs are generally adored (name one person who actually likes gnats), they are all very important for the ecosystem (gnats, for example, are key prey for frogs, fish and birds). These bugs, with their key function in our ecosystem, won’t survive through winter without leaf litter to keep them safe. If you gather up your leaves and throw them in with green waste, these bugs will be shredded – fewer butterflies, moths and bees for the next year.
Hedgehogs are another species that rely on leaves to survive through the winter. They rely on leaves both for protection during hibernation (perhaps consider collecting your leaves into a pile for them to sleep in) and use them when foraging for bugs that are vital to their energy to sleep through the winter. Because so many bugs rely on leaves for a safe spot to hibernate, hedgehogs can search for bugs instead of relying on riskier methods of hunting, like travelling long distances or migrating into more urban areas. With your lovely leaves, hedgehogs can stay safe in your garden with no need to travel further afield for food sources.
“THIS ENDS UP LEADING TO DEAD ZONES, WHICH AREA AREAS THAT HAVE NO LIFE LIVING IN THEM”
Why leaves are important: other aspects of the ecosystem
Leaves are important as a part of bringing nutrients back into the soil in the spring – especially for lawns, which are typically nutrient-poor. Your plants take up nutrients from the soil and the air and turn them into leaves. These leaves fall, and if you leave them, they’ll go right back into the soil. But if you get rid of them, you’ll also get rid of their nutrients. Therefore, leaves are helpful in reducing fertiliser use, which in turn decreases the amount you’re spending on your garden. Additionally, fertiliser runoff is a large problem, and leaving leaves, instead of using more fertiliser, can help prevent it. Fertiliser run off is when rain washes away fertiliser into the environment. This can do lots of damage, such as disrupting ecosystems by heavily benefiting some species over others, or causing eutrophication – when fertiliser ends up in slow-moving or still bodies of water, and causes algae blooms, which can kill swathes of waterborne species. This ends up leading to dead zones, which are areas of water that have no life living in them whatsoever. Keeping our aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems safe is a key aspect of protecting our world for generations to come. By leaving your leaves, you can help minimise this issue in your local area.
Leaves are also important for preventing erosion over winter months, especially in areas without adequate ground cover, such as lawns, where grasses used do not have deep roots, meaning soil is vulnerable to being washed away. Leaves can be an important preventative measure here. The dirt can be washed into rivers or streams, where it can act as a pollutant and potentially pose a risk to the species that live there. If you don’t protect your lawn, you end up with erosion and need to buy large amounts of costly soil, just to replace something you could have for free.
“YOU NEVER KNOW WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO DO JUST A LITTLE TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT IN SUCH A BIG WAY”
But practically: what can you do?
Leave your leaves exactly where they fall.
If you aren’t using your garden over the winter, you can leave them where they will protect the environment and then break down as nature intended. You’ll be left with lovely fresh soil for planting any new plants, and your precious perennials (plants that live more than two years) will have been protected too.
But, if you don’t want to do that (perhaps you have pets that need to use your garden, or you have a more active garden over the winter), you can rake them into a designated area, perhaps in a flower bed, or pile them under a tree. This ensures you still get many of the benefits of your leaves, while not hiding your lawn.
And what if you don’t have a garden? Well, perhaps you can talk to organisations with lots of land and see if they’d be willing to leave their leaves, instead of destroying this important part of the ecosystem to ensure the appearance of a lawn. Maybe reach out to your workplace or school and ask them to consider leaving some of their land covered over winter. You never know who would be willing to do just a little bit to help the environment in such a big way.
Katie Deutsch
Featured image courtesy of Birgit Böllinger via Pexels. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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