My leaf pile - too much of a good thing?
Friday was a big day here in my neighborhood in Connecticut – it was leaf day. The day the city comes and picks up our leaves. That’s our leaf pile just before it was picked up. In case you’re wondering, it was about 150′ long, 4′ wide and 3′ tall. Any way you look at it, that’s A LOT of leaves!
Way too many leaves for my garden to digest. I’m fortunate to live on a 1-acre lot that is ringed by dozens (and then some) of mature trees. I’d call my garden a woodland garden but not a wooded one.
The difference is that I do not have many areas where I can ‘hide’ my excess leaves. Yes, I have a compost pile but I simply can’t compost all those leaves. Part of the problem is that the pile you see here on the street is about half of the actual leaves that will eventually fall. I am suffering from too much of a good thing.
The Great Leaf Debate
Recently, there’s been a friendly debate happening among several garden bloggers about what to do with the bounty of leaves many of our gardens receive each fall. In one camp are bloggers like Carol Brown of Ecosystem Gardening who advocate leaving the leaves where they fall. Carol is a seasoned wildlife gardener and she discusses the pros of not raking and simply leaving your leaves alone. Carol’s perspective is echoed by Heather Holm of Restoring the Landscape with Native Plants.
Another perspective is voiced by Kylee Baumle over at Our Little Acre. I can sympathize with Kylee when she says she is ‘drowning in leaves’. Kylee also strives to create a wildlife-friendly garden but she simply has too many leaves for her garden to handle. I can totally relate.
Finding Middle Ground
Then there’s the perspective of Genevieve Schmidt of North Coast Gardening who, I imagine, speaks for many gardeners who want to be eco-friendly but find it can be harder than expected. Practice can be much different from theory for many gardeners. Gen writes honestly about the pros & cons of raking leaves and some real life solutions.
Not all of my leaves are raked up. Many are composted and others are left to blanket and nourish the soil.
Like all the other bloggers I’ve mentioned, I also consider myself a habitat gardener. I welcome a wide array of wildlife into my garden (OK, I’m not thrilled with the deer) so I try to practice sustainable gardening methods whenever possible. I do allow many of the leaves to stay where they fall. But, let’s face it, there are only so many leaves that can be left under the shrubs before they start to do more harm than good. And many urban and suburban gardens simply can’t handle the amount of leaves that fall each year. It’s one of the unspoken truths of wildlife gardening. Trees are good, leaves are good but too many leaves can be a problem for some gardens. As much as you’d like to keep all your leaves on your property, many gardeners simply can’t.
Yes, But No
Enough said...
But, there’s another cost I’d almost forgotten about to letting the city haul away some of my leaves. When my boys were little, we loved to sit on our stone wall and watch the backhoe and dump trucks whisk away the leaves. It was an event we anticipated for weeks. But now, the whole scene seems so sad to me. What a waste of resources just to pick up some leaves.
So, I’ m torn about where I stand in the ‘Great Leaf Debate’. Part of me vows never to participate in another leaf pick-up day. But another part knows that’s not possible right now. The same trees that cause the leaf problem are also part of the solution to restoring habitat for native wildlife. What’s a responsible gardener to do?
So, where do you stand on the great leaf debate?
Debbie, what a thoughtful and well-written addition to the leaf debate. Your pictures are incredibly helpful in seeing exactly what you are facing.
Because I live in the Redwoods and not among too-too many deciduous trees, my leaf quantity is not anywhere near yours! I admit to feeling completely daunted at the sheer quantity you’re dealing with there.
I think that Carole over at Ecosystem Gardening has said it so well, that each action we take is on a continuum and the right place on that continuum is different for everyone. I think that the way you leave many of your leaves is an excellent real-world solution to the problem.
Much as I’m with you today on the waste of resources of the dump trucks and such, I can just imagine your boys’ delight at watching the trucks and all the activity!! That’s a great mental picture.
Gen, Thanks for the kind words. I think Carole’s analagy of a continuum is very appropo. Each one of us has to find what works best for them and their garden and realize each little step we take helps in some way. And yes, my boys did love to watch the ‘show’ when they were little. The best year was when the backhoe was parked overnight right on the street outside of our house. I have pictures of the kids standing in the scoop with the biggest smiles you’ve ever seen plastered on their faces!
[...] Debbie Roberts, Weighing in on the Great Leaf Debate [...]
I share in the drowning in leaves feeling, living in the middle of a hardwood forest. I’ve tried leaving leaves on my perennial beds over the winter, but I have a serious vole/chipmunk problem and extra leaves gives them extra cover. The end result is many creature-nibbled plant roots and completely decimated crocus plantings. Now we clean extra leaves off all the beds.
We cannot just let leaves be. They blow along stairways and walkways, and pile up by doors. During cold, frozen winter weather leaves can become a real problem if left to block drainage areas. Plus, frozen leaves are heavy and make snow clearing more difficult.
We fill two large (5 ft in diameter, 4 ft tall) welded wire bins with leaves shredded by a mower. These either cover winter additions to the compost pile, get spread as mulch, or break down to soil enhancing leaf mold.
The rest of our leaves get blown into the woods. The number of leaves always looks overwhelming each autumn but by spring many break down.
More and more towns have started leaf composting areas. Residents can bring surplus leaves that are turned and churned until they break down. Compost is then available for residents to retreive in the spring – a great idea. Does your town do this?
Joene, How did I forget how awful frozen leaves under the snow can be? Yes, Stamford does alow residents to take back compost in the spring. To tell you the truth, we’ve always had enough of our own compost that we’ve never indulged in the service but I think I may check it out next year. Somehow it one seems fitting to take back some of what we put into the system.
In our area of the state a company called Envirocycle will take the leaves and compost them, and then sell the finished compost. It’s what we are all trying to do with leaves on our properties, but as you point out, it’s way too much for any yardowner. Envirocylce has the equipment to do it on a huge scale. It costs to get the finished product ($20 a cubic yard plus a delivery fee), but you’re paying for the work you can’t do yourself to store and break down all those leaves. I think it’s a good solution. (unfortunately Envirocycle also sells dyed mulches and probably makes most of its money off that, but I’m a fan of their recycled leaves).
Laurrie, I’ve never heard of Envirocycle but I’m going to have to check them out. it does seem like a no-brainer to have towns & cities have an outside company do the pickup and then make $ on the finished product. And the price sounds reasonable. Here compost costs @ 40/yard wholesale.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Genevieve Schmidt, Debbie Roberts. Debbie Roberts said: To rake or not to rake. Where do you stand on the Great Leaf Debate? http://bit.ly/9asUDX #wildlifegarden #Connecticut [...]
I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to have too many leaves! But after reading your post I can see that if you have only deciduous trees it might become a problem. Leaves piled on sidewalks and in drainage ditches can be an issue and not everyone is capable or willing to compost their own. I agree with other comments that letting the city handle the leaves is best as many places already have systems for dealing with this. Where I live we have a province wide composting system so anything from tree branches, to leaves and kitchen scraps are all taken away every second week in a bin that is provided to each household. I generally compost most everything I can in my own bins but it’s nice to have a place to put large branches and other hard to handle items without worrying about them ending up in a dump.
Marguerite, Wow, I love the fact that you can put out your compostable items every few weeks. We have single-stream recycling here, which is much more advanced than many of the surrounding towns, but I can’t imagine that the compostable items would ever be taken away and composted. Oh well, I guess I can dream!
I am a non-raker but I can imagine that it might be a problem with tons and tons of them. I guess that’s why nature sends the wind…to spread them around a bit more????
Karen, LOL! the next time I see the leaves whipping around my garden I’ll think of your comment. High winds are expected tomorrow so I guess Mother Nature will be sharing the leaf-love.
I think with many types of leaves, they simply form a thick mat that can clog sewers and drains and create a slimy mess on streets. Birch leaves and the like can often blow around a bit, but many maples and other large-leaved plants just pack down and stay put.
Gen, You’re exacty right. My leaves are primarily oak leaves and they have a tendency to act like a thick blanket where ever they end up. And as Joene reminded me, once they get frozen and mixed in with the snow it’s a nightmare. Still, I do love my garden and my plethora of trees. I couldn’t imagine living on a property without so many mature trees.
[...] Debbie Roberts Weighing in on the Great Leaf Debate [...]
Debbie:
Thanks so much for the shout-out and contributing in such an inspiring way to this discussion. I do promote the idea of a continuum because we each have to make our best decisions based on our circumstances, and know that every little bit helps. Every positive step taken by every gardener adds up to a lot of good. We’re all in this together!
Carole: I’m happy to be part of the discussion and lend my expereinces to the debate. It’s so true that we each have to find th balance that works best for out gardens and realize every little bit helps.