In Your Opinion: Leave The Leaves

By Jenny Kafas

Fall was recently described to me as the most nostalgic season. Lately, every time I step outside, feel crisp air and smell the fallen leaves, I am somehow taken right back to my childhood where I spent hours jumping into the proverbial giant-pile-of-leaves. My mom, despite spending years convincing me to rake the leaves in our yard, tells me that growing up she and her siblings would get in trouble for raking up the leaves to jump in them. Their suburban home in South Jersey had a couple of fruit trees that my grandad claimed needed the leaves to be healthy in the spring. As it turns out it’s not just the fruit trees that need them, it’s all of our trees, and many of our insects, birds, fungi, and soil dwelling creatures. The layer of dead leaves on the ground, or leaf litter, is essential to a healthy ecosystem in our region, but every year many of us rake them off our yards, likely thinking that it’s better for our lawns. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Leaf litter serves several interesting functions in our natural world. In the winter, one of its most important roles is insulation. It will help protect the first few inches of soil against the harsh cold temperatures and provide safe shelter for overwintering pollinators and perennial plants. Leaf litter is also able to hold an incredible amount of moisture which makes the soil beneath it all the more habitable. By holding water, this layer also helps mediate the cycle of drought followed by heavy rainfall that has become characteristic of this area as we experience climate change. Acting as a sponge, leaf litter prevents rainwater from immediately overwhelming our water ways by storing and allowing water to more gradually reach our water systems, all while filtering it naturally.