By Jade Greene
Don’t feel like leaf blowing this year – no problem, BCFA gives you permission to skip this pesky chore this fall! Removing leaves is not only a hassle but also harmful to ecosystems and our own health. Leaves provide enormous environmental benefits to our ecosystems. Here are your reasons to leave the leaves:
Protect soil:
Our soil and ecosystems have evolved alongside trees and have worked out a perfect cyclical partnership to deal with fallen leaves. As leaves decompose, they naturally provide a myriad of benefits to the soil:Â
- Return nutrients and organic matter to the soilÂ
- Improve soil structure, adding porosity which helps water and air move through the soil
- Prevent erosion as the leaves are a natural mulch
- Suppress weeds so less weeds in the spring!
- Increases organic matter, which helps the soil hold more moisture
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Protect organisms:
Leaf litter is habitat for many different critters in the ecosystem. From overwintering pollinators to fireflies, and frogs – leaving the leaves gives these organisms a place to ride out the winter. Read more here.
Protect water:
Leaves are helpful for waterways in many ways:
- Leaves return nutrients to the soil, which prevents use of synthetic fertilizers. Overuse of fertilizers runoff into stream and ponds where they cause problems like algal blooms and deplete water qualityÂ
- Leaves protect soil and keep structure healthy, preventing erosion which is harmful to water quality
- Leaves washed into creeks provide essential habitat (leaf packs) for stream insects, which are the base of the aquatic food chain
- Moisture held in the soil means less irrigation and therefore water conservation
Protect your health:
Gas powered leaf blowers have no pollution controls and pose serious health risks. They release harmful gasses, kick up dust and particulate matter and generate noise pollution. All together, this can cause respiratory issues, increase asthma risk, neurological effects, as well as contribute to heart disease, dementia, and cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. The noise pollution can cause hearing damage and stress.
If you can’t leave your leaves in place, here are some healthier alternatives for you and the ecosystem:
- Invest in electric leaf blower
- Use a rake to move leaves into garden beds and edge areas
- Compost leaves
- Look into local composting organizations that will compost your yard waste like Kona Compost or BCS Compost. Some municipalities will compost yard waste.Â
Source: Rutgers University
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