this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2023
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Nature and Gardening

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Trust in nature – and stop raking up your garden leaves (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 11 months ago by Jho@beehaw.org to c/greenspace@beehaw.org
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Some choice quotes from the article:

[S]pent leaves that flutter to the ground aren’t a waste product. They are rich in carbon and play an essential role for the tree and the ecology it supports.

The leaves act as a physical barrier for soil, keeping it and its many microbes insulated, and also for the tree roots, as the wet mats of autumn leaves shelter the fragile top layer from the drying winds.

Many, many things live in these dead leaf layers: caterpillars of moths and butterflies, their chrysalises, beetles, centipedes, springtails, woodlice and spiders … and doesn’t the blackbird know it, rustling through the leaves?

No one loves wet autumn leaves more than earthworms, though. Sensing one of their favourite things, they start to work on incorporating them into the soil. Earthworms line their homes with autumn leaves, using them for bedding and then, because they are good housekeepers, they eat them as they break down.

Leave the leaves be: they are not a mess, a waste or a hindrance – they are life and vital with it.

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[–] alwaysconfused@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 months ago

I don't believe I was advocating for everyone to grow a forest on their property.

Personally, I'd love nothing more to have a forest garden in my backyard since it's been brought up.