Leaving Well Enough Alone

By Phil Ponce | Published November 30, 2010

Leaves on the ground

Do not disturb until Spring.

Ever since I can remember, I have gone through the same fall ritual:  rake the leaves that fall into perennial beds and around trees, bag ‘em up, and have them hauled off.   And I’m probably late to this realization, but I recently read about the benefits of mulching trees because–in part–it mimicks what happens naturally in forests when leaves fall, protect the trees from possible dehydration in the winter, and then enrich the soil as the leaves break down.

Now, for years I have mowed the leaves that fall on the lawn and have never bagged grass clippings–but left them in place.  Up until now, though, I had always raked up and bagged the leaves in flower beds and around trees.  And those that I missed in late fall, I would rake up in the spring to make things look tidy.

But this year it just struck me as extra work and an unnecessary contribution to a landfill to be that fastidious.  Besides, why buy mulch when you can use the mulch the tree itself gives you?  I’m going to leave the leaves in place, let them break down where they are and let nature do her thing.  It won’t look as manicured, but when the perennials underneath the rotting leaves pop up through them next spring, who’ll even notice?  I doubt even Mother Nature will.

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  • http://willyvon1-willyswill.blogspot.com/ William von Rentzell

    In a word or rather 2, mulcher mow. Most rotary mowers come with mulching attachments, plugs or whatever to make them more capable to chop up those grass clippings etc and re-deposit them in tiny pieces back on the lawn.
    Good news, it works for fall leaves too. I’ve been doing it for many years. It requires a couple of passes and involves setting mower height at or near minimum. Also you’ll want to add some pelletized limestone to your fall fertilization to compensate for the mildly acidifying effect the leaves have. If there are oak trees involved more limestone is in order as their leaves contribute more acidity. I use ~ 3-4 cups in per small drop spreader load but I have no oak trees. 4-5 cups instead should make up the difference if you have oaks. I actually add ~ 1/2 that much at other times when fertilizing the lawn. It gently edges the PH up in the lawn closer to absolute neutrality where grass flourishes and most weeds cannot. The latter need more acid soil to do best. It moderates weed problems in general. Make sure not to get hydrated lime, a white powder as it’s effect is much ore radical. Moderation is always a goal worth pursuit.
    Mulching the trees: you need to leave a couple of inches of soil exposed around the base of each tree you’re mulching. In nature the leaf litter tends not to pile up the trunk as some people do with mulch. The damp mulch against the cuticle(base where trunk and roots meet) can cause disease and or pest infestation as well as cross rooting that can lead to strangulation. It should look sort of like half a doughnut, properly done.