6 Reasons not to Rake your Leaves this Fall

Cooler weather and leaves changing colour are two of my favourite things about Fall. I remember when I was a kid always hoping for big gusts of wind to blow the leaves into our neighbour’s yard otherwise I was going to have to rake them up. What I didn’t know then was that there are a number of reasons not to rake your leaves.

Why You Shouldn’t Rake Your Leaves This Fall

I feel that it’s a natural thing to want to tidy up your yard and rake up all the leaves that have fallen, but all of this cleaning up may not be the best thing for our yards or our planet. Leaving leaves where they fall or approaching yard clean up in a more natural way can have benefits to our yards, local wildlife, and our planet.

Here are some reasons not to rake your leaves this fall:

1. Leaves Create Free, Natural Mulch

Having a layer of leaves on the ground forms a protective layer over the soil and the leaves act as a natural mulch.

What is Mulch?

“A mulch is any layer that goes down on the surface of the soil to perform one or more important tasks. Mulches conserve water by reducing evaporation…They increase soil temperature, which speeds growth and helps crops mature faster. And in some cases mulches help prevent soil erosion. The best mulches are ones that break down over time and biodegrade into the soil itself.” – West Coast Seeds

By letting leaves remain on your lawn and soil, you reduce the need for store-bought mulch, which can save both money and resources. Over time, the leaves will break down and provide nutrients to the soil, creating a more fertile ground for future growth.

To speed up the leaves’ decomposition, you could mow over them once or twice which will shred the leaves into smaller pieces. This will help your lawn breathe and still provide a number of the same benefits to your lawn and soil.

2. They Enrich the Soil

Fallen leaves are packed with nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. As they decompose, these nutrients return to the soil, improving its quality and fertility.

Many gardeners collect fallen leaves to make leaf mold, which is essentially just decomposing leaves. This leaf mold is used as improve soil health. Decomposing leaves, whether they are left where they are or made into leaf mold, have huge potential to contribute to the long-term health of your yard.

3. Leaves Provide Habitat for Wildlife

While we might not like to actively think of all the creepy crawlies that exist on the ground, these critters are essential for our ecosystems. Leaves on the ground provide essential shelter for a variety of wildlife during the colder months. From insects, spiders, snails, millipedes, and even bees, leaves provide habitats and places to lay eggs for important species.

By removing leaves–whether it be removing them too early or too thoroughly–you may unintentionally destroy the habitats of these important insects. Allowing some leaves to remain in your yard or beneath shrubs helps sustain biodiversity through the winter.

4. They Support the Food Web

Those same insects that we may pretend aren’t there, can spend the winter in the shelter of leaves. Insects like earthworms and millipedes can feed on the decomposing leaves. All of these critters can then become an important food source for birds and other animals as the seasons change.

Creating an environment for insects to thrive and in turn provide food for birds can seem insignificant, but it is actually an important part of nature’s food chain. Birds rely on insects to feed their young, so the ripple effect of keeping leaves on the ground is huge.

5. It’s Better for the Environment

Bagging and removing leaves from your yard might seem harmless, but it comes with hidden environmental costs if the leaves are not disposed of properly. I am lucky to live in an area that collects green waste (including yard waste) and this green waste is disposed of outside of the landfill. Many communities, however, collect leaves as waste, which often ends up in landfills.

Similar to the way food waste decomposes in a landfill, other green waste like leaves will decompose and produce methane—a potent greenhouse gas. By letting your leaves lie–or by properly composting them–you help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

6. You’ll Save Time and Money

One extra little benefit is that leaving leaves on the ground will save you some time and some money. (If only I’d thought of this when I was a kid to sell the no raking routine to my parents!) Fewer hours spent raking gives you more time for other endeavours, but leaving leaves on the ground could save you some money on mulch, compost, and fertilizers.

Rethinking the Fall Cleanup

The next time you walk by a lawn that is covered in leaves, I hope these ideas will give you an idea as to why those leaves may have been left to lay where they fell. Instead of that “perfect” yard, perhaps we need to re-think how we think of our spaces and how we tend for them. Allowing our routines and practices to move in line with nature could have huge ripple effects across our eco-systems.

Will you consider setting aside your rake and letting your leaves lie this winter?

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