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| Maple Leaves are just starting to change Photo by Grandma Pearl |
My leaves are changing colors, and there is a definite chill
in the air. I can smell that crisp
autumn leaf aroma, which will become more pronounced as the next couple of
weeks pass by. With the leaves comes the
inevitable task of raking and bagging.
They tell me raking leaves is good for the waistline, and for
strengthening arm and back muscles. I
don’t know about that, but I do know that I end up with aches and pains, as
well as calluses on my hands!
Nine times out of ten, the wind picks up my piles before I
have a chance to bag them. Why is it
that the wind decides to gust just when you have finished your raking
chores? Here in the woods, I don’t have
any neighbors whose leaf piles might blow into my yard, thank goodness. Being surrounded by all kinds of hardwood
trees, however, the task of raking is multiplied tenfold!
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| Leaves are changing already in late September Photo by Grandma Pearl |
Many thanks to the inventor of the leaf vacs and blowers
that now populate the shelves at the neighborhood hardware store. They do make short work of an otherwise
overwhelming task. My contraption is a
combination of a vacuum and a blower. So
my first job is to blow the leaves into windrows. From there I can convert to the vacuum and
bagger, and proceed to turn those windrows into nutrient-rich mulch.
Most of my mulch I bag up and store for next spring’s
plantings. Another large bunch I use to
cover my flower beds. I like to make the
depth about 8” to 12” because it will be weighed down by snow. When the soil begins to warm again, the earthworms
will efficiently incorporate that golden layer into the earth. It’s a process that greatly enhances the
health of the good microbial activity necessary to help your plant roots easily
assimilate nutrients they need to flourish.
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| Insect Egg Mass cradled inside dead fallen leaf Photo by Grandma Pearl |
But I also save some leaves for my birds. Ground forages especially love to sift
through the dead foliage for tiny critters and their eggs. Birds like juncos, sparrow, robins and
catbirds especially enjoy the millions of insects to be found in the mulched
leaves. This ‘top dressing’ I save for
under my shrubs and berry bushes. A
thick layer serves to protect the roots during the bitter cold of winter.
Before it does turn really cold, though, my backyard birds
will benefit from the extra nutrition found in that leaf mulch buffet table I
set out for them! Some of my birds wait
until later to leave on their migratory journeys southward. For them, this leaf mulch is an extra food
source to help them on their way.
So do your backyard birds a favor, and leave some leaves for
them!
