What to do with all those Leaves
Some call it “Autumn”, some call it “Harvest”… apparently some folks in Europe call it “Backend”, but many here in Ohio call it “Fall”. Why? Because soon all our leaves will be falling! Like a lot of leaves. A LOT.
Now, before they fall off, our leaves do a marvelous thing and turn all shades of red, orange, yellow, brown and even sometimes purple! It’s breath-taking, and people flock to deciduous forests to watch the show. Here in central Ohio, our peak leaf color time is coming soon! See the map below.
After they slowly drift down and “boop” on the ground, they usher in new activities. Fallen leaves might make you think of: jumping in piles of leaves with your kiddos, throwing “leaf-confetti” around the yard, making fun nature-y crafts, making eye-catching centerpieces, compost… or, just a lot of raking and bagging.
If fallen leaves mostly make you think about that last one… and you’re dreading the work of “cleaning up” or the cost of someone else doing it, I’ve got good news! You can actually simple “leave the leaves” where they lay and they’ll biodegrade back into wonderful fertilizer for your trees and habitat for all sorts of beautiful animal brothers and sisters!
BUT… you might be saying: “You don’t understand: I live in a neighborhood where leaving the leaves would be frowned upon or even ticketed” or “I have so many leaves every fall that my yard would be a crazy, slippery mess that would smother the grass” or even “No, that offends my eyeballs”.
If you’re thinking any of those statements, I have even more good news! You can still have fun with your leaves, not have to deal with those cumbersome lawn bags, AND help our planet and her critters! Seriously.
How?
It’s called a “wild corner”. Simple and effective, all you do is rake your leaves and throw your sticks into a designated corner of your backyard. This pile of leaves and twigs will accomplish multiple things:
It will give you a place away from the frontyard to put your leaves.
The pile will slowly turn into compost, which is great for growing all sorts of things like veggies and flowers.
It will kill the grass underneath it, allowing you to plant a native butterfly garden directly into that spot.
It will help all sorts of animal brothers and sisters!
Again, no lawn bags! And no toxic smoke from burning them either (Seriously… DON’T BURN THEM)
(Here’s a whole bunch of good info about all this from Xerces Society)
Who?
Let’s take a look at just a few of the beautiful animal brothers and sisters who need fall leaves to survive:
Oh, and back to #3:
So, yes… too many leaves piled on top of grass all Fall/Winter/Spring WILL kill the grass underneath… but that’s not always a bad thing! In this case, your wild corner will be perfectly ready for you to plant Spring-bought native plants directly into it in April-May! Particularly ferns and other Spring bloomers. These ones are used to pushing through fallen leaves every year. Our local nurseries could give you the best recommendations for your wild corner. This way your little slice of heaven can be giving back all year! You’ll be amazed at who comes to visit when you make the space!
Your wild corner could make way for native woodland flower Columbine, which invites hummingbirds to your yard!
For plants, I’d recommend checking out our local native nursery partners:
For design consultation/installation I recommend:
Lastly:
If aesthetics are very important to you (and that’s okay!) I’d say two additional things: You can put some sort of cute border, whether it be a tiny decorative fence or stones, around your wild corner to make it look intentional. You can also put up a cute sign as well. Make it your family’s “Magic Spot” like we talk about in class!
If you and your fam decide to create your own wild corner this Fall, let me know! Send me a pic to Jared@ldbb.care or on my instagram @jaredthenatureguy
Let’s end this post on a musical note: here’s a catchy song I wrote about all this
