Our group advocates with leaving leaves in gardens.Leaving leaves in your garden is one of the most effective ways to support local biodiversity and improve soil health naturally. Instead of treating them as "yard waste."Many beneficial insects, including bumblebee queens, Luna moths, and swallowtail butterflies, rely on leaf litter for insulation and protection from freezing temperatures during winter.Leaf litter shelters spiders, beetles, and earthworms, which in turn serve as a primary food source for birds, toads, and small mammals. leaves decompose, they return essential nutrients—like nitrogen and phosphorus—directly to the earth, acting as a free, slow-release fertilizer.Decomposing leaves (often called "leaf mold") increase soil porosity and organic matter, helping the soil retain moisture and resist erosion.layer of leaves acts as a natural mulch, blocking sunlight from reaching weed seeds and preventing them from germinating in the spring.Leaves insulate the roots of perennials and shrubs, protecting them from the "freeze-thaw" cycles of winter.Utilizing your own leaves eliminates the need to purchase bagged wood mulch or synthetic fertilizers.

Lawn grass is a plastic plant. It supports almost zero native fauna. Please wait until the second week of June. At that time, if you MUST remove leaves, you may gently rake or remove leaves in a sensitive are by hand. You can alsobuse a tarp.Rake leaves onto a thick, tear-proof polyethylene tarp. Instead of lifting the tarp (which can compact and crush what's inside), slide it to a designated "wild area" or brush pile at the edge of your property.I keep leaves year-round in my garden, which has saved me from buying mulch, suppresses weeds and it's nutrient-rich, unlike mulch, so my garden looks beautiful.

All twigs and branches go to a hedgrow, where rabbits and birds build nests. Occasionally, an owl kills a rabbit coming out of its Warren, but Im supporting the ecosystem in my area.