How NOT to Clean up Your Yard this Fall
Have you found yourself cursing the trees as you spend hours raking up their leaves each fall? Does the task seem like another item on your neverending to-do list? Maybe you actually enjoy working up a sweat in the colder weather, but you can’t help but feel that there must be a better way.
Fallen leaves are a critical resource for your garden’s health. By leaving them on site you can improve your property’s contribution to the local food web and create healthier and more drought tolerant soil. You will also reduce the amount of weeding you have to do. All of which should lead to healthier plants with less work on your end.
First, if you haven’t read our article on Low Maintenance Gardening yet, please check it out. In that article, we introduced the idea that the circle of life is important to your garden’s health. Things absolutely have to be rotting back into your soil in order to ensure enough nutrients and energy are in the system. Sure, you could bring in fertilizers, compost and/or manure - but a tree’s own leaves contain the exact nutrients that tree needs to thrive - why not use them
While trees don’t eat like we do, their roots and the soil they live in can be understood to be as important as our own gut health. The microorganisms in our guts help us break down foods and absorb nutrients. We care for these little guys by taking pre-, pro- and post-biotics as well as being mindful of the things we eat. It’s not that different in the soil. Fungi, bacteria, and tiny invertebrates break down the dead things in the soil into nutrients that can be dissolved in water and sucked up by plant roots. The more diverse the buffet of rotting stuff for them to eat, the more nutrients available for the plants.
This approach will require you to change some habits that might be automatic to you. Some of it might even feel wrong at first, but I encourage you to approach it as an experiment. See what happens, see how it looks, see how you feel about it. Think of it as if you were feeding your garden. Get curious and pay attention to the health of your plants. Notice if you see more wildlife in your yard. You can approach it little by little, or go all in on the concept. We’ve broken it down into increasing levels of involvement so you can go at your own pace.
Level 1 - Do Nothing
I’m giving you full permission to conserve your time and energy and just let everything that falls in your garden “compost in place”. Let whatever is left of your perennials stay over the winter and let the branches and leaves that fall from your trees stay where they land. Many perennials will have seeds or be home to overwintering insects - both of which provide food for birds. Leaves and perennial stalks also provide shelter for birds. I find that the architecture the dead plant parts provide to the garden is much more visually interesting than an empty garden. Whatever is left standing in the spring can be cut down and left in the garden or composted if you’ve got a bin on site. Fight the urge to clean up your garden and expand your concept of what is visually appealing and I promise you and your garden will be happier.
Now this one might be challenging for some of you to accept: if you leave your leaves on your lawn, nothing bad will happen*. The caveat is that the leaves can’t be too dense and species that take a long time to break down like oak and beech aren’t great candidates for this. A compromise is to use the mulching feature on your lawnmower to chop up the leaves when you mow your lawn in the fall - though this would harm any overwintering insects in the leaves. Play around with it, just see what happens.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In the Pacific Northwest, many plants are prone to foliar (leaf) diseases like powdery mildew, black spot, and anthracnose. These diseases are usually caused by fungi or bacteria and spread when water splashes off of the leaves. If you have a plant with diseased leaves, these should be removed from the area around the plant and put in your green bin, or placed away from any plants that are susceptible to the same disease. This is something that might need a little professional guidance so as always we’re here to give advice on how best to manage your plants.
Level 2 - Keep as Much Green Waste as Possible on Site
With this level, you will take the leaves that fall on your lawn or hardscapes and ensure there’s a nice thick layer covering all of your garden space. This may require some design changes in order to create more garden space and ensure there are enough
o rake the clumps out a bit, but the clippings are very high in nitrogen so it will reduce your need to fertilize. You can also mow with the bag on but spread the clippings on veggie gardens, in areas of the garden that aren’t as visible, or add them to your compost bin.
Level 3 - Incorporate Woody Debris
Woody debris ranges in size from chips/mulch, twigs, branches to logs. It can act as a sponge to retain water, provide food for beneficial fungi and insects, regulate soil temperature, prevent erosion, and add nutrients to the soil. How does one find woody debris? With invasive pests in our area like Japanese beetle and emerald ash borer, care needs to be taken to source materials that are pest free. The best bet is to use tree or shrub parts from your own yard or from your neighbours. Reputable arborists might be able to deliver logs and/or wood chips to you, possibly for free.
I love using logs as a design tool to direct the eye, add a structural element, and provide contrast in colours and texture. Ecologically speaking, larger logs also create a cooler, shadier place in the soil that’s a perfect home for the critters that help break down organic matter into nutrients. Branches and logs can also be used to delineate paths and borders. Sometimes I use them to cover soil between shrubs that will eventually fill in over top of the area. Really cool shapes of trees or logs can be placed like a sculpture. There’s an opportunity to get really creative and get inspired by the pieces you have to work with.
The twisted striations on this log compliment the colours in the surrounding garden, direct the eye to the water feature, and cover the soil where shrubs will eventually fill in. It adds architecture in the winter when the neighbouring perennials die down, and creates a cool, damp spot for plant roots in the summer.
I also recommend using bark mulch or wood chips to create a base layer of mulch as you start to implement these strategies, or to cover up any bare spots when you make changes to your garden. Avoid using dyed bark mulch or mulch that has large chunks (over 2-3”). This should be spread at a depth of between 2-4”. If you’ve got some really weedy areas, spread layers of newspaper or cardboard on the soil before adding the mulch (be sure to remove any tape or plastic). This will break down when it’s done being useful. DO NOT use landscape fabric - it disrupts the flow of water and nutrients through the soil and will not prevent weed seeds from landing on top of it. It then becomes very difficult to dig in your garden and can be very difficult to remove.
Conclusion
I’ve seen firsthand how these strategies can transform the health of soil, turning the most inhospitable of soils into lush oases. Thinking of this approach as feeding my garden has turned into a fun project that really connects with my inner child. Growing up, I spent a lot of time engaging in creative play outdoors. Now when I look out for things to “feed” my garden and design little microclimates to attract different critters, it nourishes me as well. Composting in place has also greatly reduced the amount of maintenance necessary in my garden, allowing me to create even more garden space. I hope you can try out some of these ideas and find some fulfillment in the process.
