It’s Fall season, the colors are gone and the leaves have fallen, all that’s left to do is deal with them. But should we do it?

As you know, since last July, a new contractor collects our different bins in a mechanized way and does not collect the free bags. This includes the bags of dead leaves at this time of year. No special leaf collection has been scheduled this year, this could change if necessary, but is it really?  The following may convince you that it is not!

The dead leaves and needles are completely natural and can be disposed of under the cedar hedges (Thuja occidentalis) or in a more wooded area if you have them on your property if you want to have a leafless lawn. These leaves will be quickly composted on site, enriching the trees and the undergrowth canopy on site.

On the other hand, if you are willing to leave them on site, then the lawn will be enriched with the leaf compost! Of course, making sure that the leaves are no more than 2 cm (3/4 of an inch) thick and that they are gone in the Spring can be useful to ensure that the lawn does not choke. To facilitate this, you can, especially if you have a thick canopy, pass the mower over the leaves, making sure to spread them out everywhere: the smaller pieces decompose more quickly.

In addition to enriching the lawn, the leaves left behind protect fragile plants from intense winter temperature changes like a natural mulch. This insulation also provides a winter habitat for toads, frogs and many insects, including pollinators, which will make your life more pleasant once the weather returns. In addition, these insects will attract more songbirds in the Spring as many of them feed on various insects protected by your leaves.

Source:https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/quebec/news/leaves-on-the-ground.html