.jpg) |
| This Month in the Garden |
Natural Mulch:
Allowing fallen leaves to remain on the ground acts as a natural mulch, providing insulation for the soil. This layer helps to regulate soil temperature, preventing extreme fluctuations that can be harmful to the roots of plants and trees. As the leaves decompose, they release valuable organic matter and essential nutrients back into the soil, which will in turn help to promote plant growth. On the other side of the discussion, too many compacted leaves can block sunlight and trap excess moisture against your lawn, leading to possible snow mold growth and possible lawn damage come spring. Maintaining a leaf cover of no more than twenty to thirty percent of lawn area is recommended to allow enough light and air to reach the turf while providing the benefits of mulching. According to the USDA, the best solution is to finely chop newly fallen leaves with a mulching mower or a leaf shredder, then return them to garden beds to ensure the health of your plantings. It is important to perform this activity before leaves are on the ground for any length of time to avoid any harm to wildlife. Another option is if you have an out of the way area in your garden, such as behind a barrier of trees, leaves can be relocated to that space to allow nature to take its course.
Moisture Conservation:
It is a known fact that besides providing insulation, a layer of leaves can act as a protective barrier, helping to retain moisture of the soil. This can be especially beneficial during the winter months in wooded or mulched areas, under shrubs and around dormant perennials when the ground is prone to both freezing and drying out from winter winds. Keep in mind that while the leaves help to retain moisture, it is best to not have leaves built up around fall or winter blooming perennials, as it could cause lack of sunlight to the plants and encourage disease. Also, removing the browned or mushy foliage of dormant perennials such as Hosta and Peony in fall will help to prevent fungal issues. Note: Such perennials containing seed heads, for example Echinacea and Rudbeckia, can be beneficial for birds to feed on and can be left for winter before cutting back.
 |
Saving Time & Effort:
Removing leaves can be both time consuming and physically demanding. Leaving the leaves and allowing nature to take its course eliminates the need for this labor-intensive chore. This frees up your time to enjoy the beauty of the season, assess the garden and plan away for next spring!
In conclusion, while many prefer the "clean" look of traditional mulches, embracing the idea of leaving fall leaves in your garden offers a wide range of benefits, including moisture conservation, temperature moderation, and addition of nutrients for improved soil health, all while supporting wildlife. Striking a balance by incorporating responsible leaf management practices allows the best of both worlds-a thriving landscape and a sustainable, biodiverse ecosystem.
I hope you enjoyed This Month in the Garden for the month of December. Be sure to stop by on the 1st. and 15th. of each month as I continue to share gardening tips, information and horticultural adventures!
We tend to leave most of the leaves on the garden and the paths, but we have Oak trees. Unlike Maples, Elms, and others, Oak leaves can take several years to break down. So we have to mow some of them on the grassy and other areas. The wind helps a lot, too. But we certainly do our best to let nature take its course where possible. The leaf much looks nice, and we are not perfectionists. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar situation. The Kwanzan Cherry tree in the corner of the property drops a lot of leaves, leaving a thick carpet on the lawn. The rest of the property has mostly evergreens, so that is the only difficult area to have to tend to.
DeleteI do a 50/50 on leaves. Just get the paths clear, leave the ones that fall in the beds.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I call a hybrid, which works. You are still leaving leaves for natural mulch and for the insects such as butterflies to reproduce. As mentioned above, I have one area which gets too covered, so I have to deal with that, but the other areas have the more scattered leaves.
DeleteI tried leaving leaves on the beds for all the reasons stated above, but last year that just provided a hiding place for Voles. In the spring I uncovered untold amounts of tunnels, holes and damage to plants that I had never had problems with before. This year I tidied up and created a large compost pile. All the goodness will go back on the beds when everything has rotted down, and the compost pile will be a nice warm place for plenty of life to overwinter. I hear it was a good year for the Vole population, not just in my gardern but in others too.
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing a lot of that too. The Voles have been ripping up lawns and plants more this season than ever. There have also been instances with Moles ripping up the lawns. I was told that is due to all the rain we have had here, that the earthworms are going closer to the surface and the Moles are digging for them. In conclusion, your compost pile is a perfect idea!
DeleteYou write everything correctly about preserving leaves after they fall. But I noticed that leaves left on the lawn under thick snow leave bald spots in the spring. They rot right on the lawn. So I rake them under the rhododendron bushes and the leaves decompose there. Have a nice week, Lee.
ReplyDeleteAgree. It is recommended to have no more than 20-30 percent of lawn covered to prevent suffocation. I follow the same method...less on the lawn and more behind tall trees and in garden beds to serve as a natural mulch. Have a good week too Nadezda!
Delete